A Strange Place to Call Home
by AimeeDanielle97
Summary: Amy is a lonely 15yr old, expelled from boarding school and sent to an orphanage in Holby. When she ends up in the ed, Zoe takes to her and her and nick opt to foster. But can a car accident change Amy's fate? Just Amy's back ground until chapter 3 when casualty characters come in. All copy rights to BBC. All characters to BBc except my O/C
1. Chapter 1

Hi, my name's Amy, it's short for Amelia. That's my real name, Amelia Scott. I don't like it, I don't use it and I don't answer to it. This is because they gave it to me. I hate everything about them so I hate the name. They are my biological parents. As soon as I turned twelve, they shipped me off to boarding school, I've never seen or heard from them since. I used to try to call them, back in my first year, but they had changed their numbers. So I tried the house phone, only to find out that they'd moved house. It ripped me apart, my heart shattered beyond repair, nowadays, the pieces have joined together with ice and I have turned cold. Turned into that sad fifteen year old who paints her nails black, smothers on black lip stick, paints her eyes like a badger, rips her school stockings and wears black and white striped arm warmers. That's me, the freak, emo kid that no one talks to. I like it that way. The teachers hate me, but the feeling is mutual, last year, they made us make a box full of childhood memories. It was a compulsory class assignment and they smiled as they forced me to do it. I made immediate plans to burn it, but I didn't get a chance until yesterday. I was successful too, that's why I'm in the mess I am now. One of the other girls came into the toilet where I was burning it in the sink. I was going to put it out with the tap once it was ruined, but she screamed and set the alarms off. I've been expelled and they are currently driving me to Parkinson's Home for Girls in Bristol, England. The fact that they did not send for my parents, but are driving me to an orphanage instead, suggests to me that they have known for the whole time that I've attended their miserable, sad excuse for a school, that I wasn't ever going home again. They're still smiling. Im wearing my 'I couldn't care less' attitude, we'll be there any minute now so there is no point arguing, anyway, I'll probably be happier once I'm shot of them.

The orphanage is big and scary looking, but I'll be fine. They pull over a short way from its large sandstone steps, drag me out of the car and into the orphanage. I'm then left sitting on a blue vinyl chair watching the adults having hushed conversations about me. The head of the orphanage sends a scowl in my direction. A gesture to which I smile sweetly and then poke out my tongue, just far enough for her to get a glimpse at the self-done, piercing that sits in centre of it. I'm rather proud of that one. She looks momentarily shocked but then returns to the conversation. The hands seem to be crawling around the clock, I'm beginning to think I'll be on this chair for the rest of my life, but then the school mistress stalks over to me. She smiles sweetly then bends down, close to my ear and whispers.  
>"Have fun Beelzebub. You'll be right in your element." Then she walks away, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.<br>"Hello Amelia, nice to finally meet you." I ignore her. "I said hello to you, or can you not hear?" She says, sarcastically.  
>"Oh! Are you talking to me?" I say, sounding surprised. "Well hello, but who's this Amelia you speak of? I'm Amy, it's an, er, pleasure to make your acquaintance." She looks grim.<br>"Well, Amy, as you may or may not be aware, your situation is not good. Your parents have signed you over to us, not a thing to be said or done about it, so I suggest you start accepting it and have a few more manners about you when I address you. After all, it is of no fault of mine that you are in this situation. Miss Linn will show you to the dormitory and when you have unpacked, you will return to me and I will personally introduce you to your new life." She walks away and a tall, muscly looking woman grabs the top of my arm and leads me out of the office. She walks me up three flights of stairs and into a dormitory. It's horrible. Looks like a hospital ward.  
>"That's your bed, that's your wardrobe. Now start unpacking." I glare at her but I do as I am told. It only takes me a few minutes, I don't own much.<br>"Now you'll come with me before you go to the head, you need to be cleaned." I don't understand this remark, I am clean. But before I get more than a second to think it through, she pulls me across the landing to the bathroom, forces me into a chair and starts attacking my face with a make up wipe. I don't tolerate being forced into anything and I especially hate being manhandled, so I kick her shin, hard.  
>"How dare you!" She slaps me so hard in the face then that I can actually feel my skin welting. I can't even protest, it's completely legal, she's my guardian and therefore, She's free to clobber me if she likes. She returns to destroying my carefully applied eye make up. I sit patiently as she removes the black from my nails and lips, yanks the warmers from my hands and fires a new pair of stockings at me. I don't have much choice but to put them on. So I do. As soon as I finish, she whisks me away to the head.<p>

"It's good to see you looking fresh and clean. Now, these are the class rooms, form rooms on the right, art, music, science labs, home economics and computer rooms on the left, shouldn't be too hard to navigate."  
>"Sure." I say, rather shakily. I'm scared, but I'm not admitting it to them. She starts leading me away to another corridor, muttering something about striving for excellence, I'm listening. I'm just trying very hard not to throw up for pure nerves. My 'I couldn't care less' attitude is beginning to disintegrate slightly.<br>"These are the common rooms, free time is spent here. There are desks, kitchens, lounges, mirrors, lamps, etc. basically, everything we thought you could use."  
>"That was thoughtful." I put in and, for once, I am not being sarcastic. Having someone care enough to think about all those things is something I have grown quite unaccustomed to.<br>"I'm glad you think so." She says. I shrug. "The dining halls are just down here, the rest of the girls have gathered there to meet you, so lets go." She leads me down the rest of the corridor and swings open the doors at the end. I lay my eyes on thirty or forty girls, all staring at me, none of them smiling properly. It is completely fake, and yet, I feel a part of it. We are all in the same situation. We all have to stick together. They know it and I know it, and it feels comforting.  
>"Hi." I say awkwardly. A few girls give me a couple of weak hello's.<br>"Well. I'll leave you all to get acquainted and then set up for dinner." Says the head. I watch her walk out of the room in her brisk manor and then turn back to the girls."  
>"What's your name then?" One of the older looking girls calls.<br>"It's Amy."  
>"How old are you?" Calls another.<br>"I'm 15. 16 in march." I reply.  
>"Well, someone will ask you this at some point so we might as well get it over with now. What happened to you?" I'll admit, I wasn't actually expecting this.<br>"I was dumped at boarding school, aged twelve, the folks switched their numbers and moved house and I never saw or heard from them again. I was expelled for burning the box of childhood memories, that they forced us to make, with a match in a sink in the girls lavatory. Now I'm here and we're all gonna live sadly ever after." A few girls laugh at this sarcastic remark.  
>"Well, I can see you're gonna fit in all right here. I'm Chloe by the way. You'll learn all of our names eventually. I'm head girl. Now, we need to set up for dinner, the tables are in that cupboard over there." She points to a cupboard on the far left side of the room. "And the chairs in that one. Cutlery and plates are in the kitchen, so are the fridges which have been previously stocked with the jugs of water for dinner. Lets do this." With all the girls chipping in, it scarcely takes us five minutes to set it all up and sit down, ready for dinner. The cooks are busy setting up the large kitchen bench like an American high school cafeteria. Miss Parkinson (the head) stands up and clears her throat, everyone falls silent immediately.<br>"We will begin with the Lord's Prayer and then you will be allowed to queue for your meal. In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen..." We apparently say prayers every morning and night and before and after every meal. Choice. I'm not Catholic by any manor of means. "Thank you. Now line up as usual." A cacophony of scraping noises and chattering is heard as the girls and I carry out this command.

Dinner is all right, nothing too grand, but it is enough to get some good nutrients into us.  
>"As you well know girls, you have two hours free time and then bed at nine, sharp. First year students will be in bed at 8. Goodnight."<br>"Good night Miss Parkinson." Chorus the girls before moving off to the common rooms. Some girls begin to watch television, others make some popcorn, a few sit on the arm chairs and either read or begin to catch up with homework. I busy myself with my art book. I draw all sorts in there, it's what I used to relieve myself of stray emotions.  
>"That's really good!" Pipes up one of the girls behind me.<br>"Thanks. But it isn't finished yet." I reply. It is a sad drawing of a lonely, shipwrecked boat. I've been working on it for a while, mainly in the car ride down from Edinburgh.  
>"You've got a real talent for that sure enough!" She says.<br>"Thanks."  
>"I'm Lucy, by the way, maybe we can be friends." Well this is a shock to my system.<br>"Yeah, maybe." I shake the hand she is holding out to me.  
>"Did your folks seriously dump you like that?" She asks.<br>"Yeah they did. Not something I'll ever forgive them for either."  
>"Doesn't sound like something anybody could forgive! I used to be happy, then Mum and Dad went out one night to a party in London. They never came home. No one has ever really explained what happened, apparently they were stabbed. That's not something I will ever get over either."<br>"Sounds horrible." I say, sincerely. I can't imagine how that would have felt. Another girl comes and joins us then.  
>"You two sharing sob stories then?"<br>"Yes Susan, what a delightful thing to do on a Sunday night." Lucy says.  
>"I've been sent to give you your timetable, Amy, it applies all week. Have fun. You think you're settling in okay?" She asks, pleasantly.<br>"I suppose. Be better once school starts I think."  
>"Yeah, always is. Anyway, see you 'round. Bye Lucy.<br>"See you."  
>"Bye." I watch Susan walk away to join her friends and then return to my own conversation with Lucy. Despite my desperate attempts to make myself that weird, anti-social kid that talks to no one, I'm finding myself welcoming Lucy's kindness and longing to let her know that I want nothing more than to become her friend. This place has changed me already. Maybe it's for the better, I guess we'll have to find out sooner or later. At nine o'clock, the bell goes for bedtime and the girls clamber off to bed, most of them so tired that they find themselves asleep in no time. I struggle to experience the same luck. The bed is new, so is the room and I am so nervous about everything. I want so much to just snuggle down into my pillow and cry. But I never cry. No matter how crap I feel. It takes a few hours, but I fall asleep eventually, dreaming about the week of classes I have to come.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

"Quick, get up moron or you'll be late for breakfast!" Someone was screaming and shaking me. With great effort, I peel my eyes apart to find Lucy standing at the foot of my bed staring at me, dressed in the black skirt, white shirt and black tie that we all have to wear for classes.  
>"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep in." I get up and wash quickly, fire on the uniform and join Lucy and the others to head downstairs for breakfast.<br>"Is your bed made, Matron will check them and woe betide you if your bed's not made."  
>"Yep, I made it quickly just before I got dressed. It's neat enough." I sigh. Orphanages were seemingly as bad as boarding schools. No fun.<br>"Good. What do you have first period?"  
>"History. Then I have home studies or something like that. What on earth is home studies?" I ask, confused.<br>"Well, stereotypically speaking, orphans don't always get good educations. So that class is all about learning to be a housewife, a good mum, cooking and cleaning, stuff like that. We have those two classes together, that's good."  
>"Cool, wow, home studies sounds exciting." I say, sarcastically, as we walk into the dining room. The tables had been left out from dinner so all we have to do now is set them, this only takes about two minutes. Then we sit down for prayers and go to queue for breakfast.<br>"This is always the worst meal of the day. Porridge oats, no sugar." Says Lucy, I groan.  
>"Yikes, sounds like prison food all right." We eat in silence and then head to first period. History is long, dull and completely English. Being Scottish, this bores me on no end. I can't wait for the bell! When it finally rings, I am so relieved that I actually smile for the first time since I was twelve! Lucy leads the way to home studies. It is a strange room. It has a kitchen in one corner, ironing boards and irons in another, prams and children's toys in another and desks in the last one. The teacher comes in and tells us to sit down. There are only about ten of us here, luckily, otherwise there wouldn't be enough desks.<br>"We're going to start learning about families today. I've got work sheets here to be filled out. I know it's a touchy subject, but you will all have to grit your teeth and bare it, the curriculum council put their foot down when the school protested. We didn't want to teach this subject but we had no say in the matter. Sorry. The worksheet has to be completed in ten minutes so please hurry." She hands it out. At the top it reads "my perfect family", it has a picture of a family on it too. A mother, a father, a son and a daughter. All smiling. Reluctantly, and shyly, I fill out the dumb sheet and hand it in.  
>"Amy, why has your sheet not been completed?"<br>"Sorry miss, I thought it was." I say.  
>"No you've missed out two questions, 'what should a mother do for her family?' and 'what should a father do for his family?'. Tell me your answers please. Out loud."<br>"No miss." The class gasp. The teacher looks slightly taken aback.  
>"Tell me your answer now or I shall give the whole class one hundred lines." The girls start hissing at me to do it. Lucy nudges me and says,<br>"You'd better just do it. Or the punishment exercises will just get bigger." I sigh, turn back to the teacher and throw my answer in her face.  
>"All right, a mother should be a domineering, stuck up snob who stays in and doesn't work because her rich husband, the father, does everything, earns all the money and they both live their snobbish, child free life alone."<br>"Get outside and wait by the door. I'll deal with you later young lady." So I stand up and walk out, rolling my eyes all the way. I realise pretty quickly that this is my chance. The window is frosted so she can't really see what goes on outside the door. I could escape this dump right now. So I do. I stop to think about it for all of thirty seconds. I reckon it's the best thing to do, I will miss Lucy but not having friends is something I'm very used to. So I shut the door, move slowly away from the glass and then bolt down the corridor and out of the front door. I don't stop running, I get about two streets away from the orphanage and then start to slow down. This feels great, freedom! No domineering and stuck up teachers, no boring orphanage, no horrid matrons, or homework or anything, just freedom! I like it. Now, I have to think this through. I have a ten pound note in my pocket, this should be enough to get well away from here so I hail a taxi and get in.  
>"Where to miss?"<br>"As far away from here as ten pounds will take me." He nods and begins to drive, we get about half an hour away and then he pulls over.  
>"That'll be ten pounds miss." I give him it and mutter thanks as I get out the taxi. I'm on my own now. The sign on the corner says Hutton street. That means I'm still within close enough distance of the orphanage for them to find me, so I start running again. After a while, I find the railway track, maybe I could sneak onto a train? I crawl through a broken part of the fence and run along the grass on the other side, surely the station can't be far off? Okay, so I realise my, situation isn't a good one, I'm cold, it's starting to rain, I'm out of breath, I have no home, no money, no food, no clothes and I'm tired, but I've come this far... I keep running but the grass is getting slippery and I'm on a hill. Then, quite suddenly, the hill gets steeper and I slip and fall. A sharp stabbing pain swipes across my hands and shoots all the way up my arms. I never cry so I just scream. I let out a cry that causes the birds in the trees to flee their safe haven. I don't have the courage to look at my hands but I can feel something warm and wet oozing from where the pain is. Blood. Gingerly, I sit up and lift my hands off of the ground, only to discover a pile of broken glass and loads of it is stuck in my hands. Excellent. The train station, thankfully, is within sight. I can slip my hands and arms inside my jacket and get to the hospital from there, hopefully unnoticed. I don't particularly want to go to hospital, they'll get me then for sure, but my hands are screaming at me that I don't much have a choice.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Walking to the hospital takes ages and loads of people keep stopping to say  
>"Hey, sweetie, you doin' okay, you don't look so good?" Or something else along those lines. I'm slowed down even more by the fact that I have no idea where I'm going and I keep having to stop and ask directions. Leading to more questioning about my well being. I just want to get to accident and emergency and the sooner, the better. When I finally arrive, no one pays me much attention. I barely get a backwards glance until after I've struggled out of the jacket and been able to produce my sore, bleeding hands. I make sure the sleeves of my jumper are down firmly just in time for a near by nurse to cry,<br>"My goodness child! How did you do that! Come through here and I'll get a doctor to see to you!" She then half runs out of the cubicle she's left me in calling "Doctor Jordan, Doctor Jordan! Could you help me in cubicle 3 please?" I roll my eyes. A tall, olive skinned woman, with short, black, perfectly straight hair and glasses walks up to me. Unlike the other doctors and nurses, she isn't wearing scrubs, instead she's dressed in a tight black shift dress, shoes that look like they've come out of vogue magazine and a black stethoscope hanging around her neck.  
>"Hi there, Zoe Jordan, senior consultant." She says in a weak, but still clearly, Liverpudlian accent. "Now, what have you done to those hands?" She asks as she sanitises her own hands and slips on some latex gloves.<br>"Well I was running on a hill, I slipped when the rain started. I put my hands out in front of me, luckily, but they landed on a pile of broken glass." I say, matter-of-factly.  
>"Gosh, that sounds painful." She lifts my hands and turns them over in her own, closely examining the wounds. "Are you up to date on your tetanus?" She asks.<br>"I don't know. Sorry."  
>"That's okay, we can give your mum a ring." I look away then.<br>"You won't be able to do that, and I doubt she'd know any way. I haven't seen my parents since I was twelve. They left me at school and disappeared off of the face of the planet."  
>"Oh." She says, sounding guilty. "Um, well, we may be able to ring your GP instead, what's your name."<br>"Amelia Scott will be the name in the notes. But I've changed it to Amy. Just Amy, I don't answer to anything else. You wont have my notes either, you'll have to email Glasgow's York Hill Children's hospital for those. I've been in boarding school, back in Scotland, for the last three years. And an orphanage for the past two days. You can't phone either of them. Promise me you won't phone them?" I really want to cry, but I can't. I try with all my might to plead her with my face, show her what that would do to me, make her understand.  
>"Calm down, I won't unless I have to, but you have to trust me and be completely honest with me, okay? What were you running from, when you slipped?"<br>"I-I can't tell you that, you'll phone them all! I know it! Please trust me, please! Don't phone them, please don't phone them!" She sat next to me on the bed then and hugged me, held on to me tight. I don't know her and doesn't know me, but she sits there, holding me together and I feel safe, safe enough just fall to pieces. So I do. I cry for the first time in three and a half years.  
>"Shh, shh, Amy, it's all right, I promise, it's fine. I won't phone them. Did you run away, is that what this is about? Why did you run, Amy? Tell me why you ran."<br>"The t-teacher m-made me tell her what a m-mother and a f-father should do for their f-family." I wail into her shoulder. The nurse, still standing awkwardly by the opening of the cubicle, leaves us and pulls the curtains together.  
>"Okay, well sweetie, I promise, I'm not going to leave you, okay? I have to fix these hands but, I'll give you some pain relief and then take you to have them x-rayed. I'm not going to go anywhere okay? Be a brave girl for a little longer okay?" With that she steps off of the bed and starts getting some pain relief together.<br>"Do they g-give you a tetanus jag when you go into f-first year?" I ask, still a bit shaky from crying.  
>"Usually, do you think you had one then?"<br>"Yes, I'm pretty c-certain I did."  
>"Good, that's one less thing for us all to worry about." She smiles. She is very pretty, her smile lights up the rest of her face, I feel very reassured by her. She gives me some paracetamol and then has one of the porters bring me a wheelchair. She, herself, pushes me up to the radiology ward for an x-ray.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

It has been confirmed that I am not in any danger, the glass has not punctured any muscles or important tendons, but I need stitches. Zoe is off fetching another doctor and the equipment. Apparently, this other doctor is better at doing stitches and that it will be better for me in the long run if he does them. I think she said his name was Nick. It isn't too long before they come into the cubicle with a trolly, on which, lies all sorts of weird and wonderful metal instruments.  
>"Hello Amy, I'm Doctor Nick Jordan, clinical lead in this Emergency department. Can I have a look at your hands?" He asks, politely.<br>"Sure." I reply. I throw a smile at Zoe, she winks at me.  
>"Yes, these are rather deep. Okay, do you understand what we're about to do?"<br>"Go glass digging in my hands and then practice your sewing skills?" I ask and Zoe laughs at my sarcasm.  
>"Well, yes, something like that. We'll numb them and then then attempt to remove all of the glass, the amount that is in there and the fact that they are mostly shattered and small pieces, tells me, this is not going to be an easy task. Hence Zoe sent for me. We'll do it together and then, hopefully it will be done right. Okay?"<br>"Yes?" I say, uncertainly.  
>"I promise, it's nothing." Zoe says.<br>"I'm sorry about earlier Zoe, I didn't mean to blubber like that. It's strange, I haven't cried in three years, not even when I did this," I nod towards my hands. "And then one hug reduces me to a teenage version of Niagara falls."  
>"Don't worry about it sweetie." Nick gives me a local anaesthetic in both hands. After having both changed their gloves, the two doctors began poking around in my hands with their tweezers. I can't believe how much glass was actually in my hands!<br>"Gosh, you weren't kidding about the amount, huh?!"  
>"No, we really weren't." They then set to work putting in the stitches. I ended up with 18 in my left hand and 21 in my right hand. After they've finished, they clean my hands (again) with some antiseptic wash, it stings and I wince, but it's okay.<br>"Right, well that's all finished. Now, you're still under sixteen, which means we can't discharge you without a parent or guardian. Shouldn't really have treated you either, but your situation is a bit unique. So, who will we ring for you?"  
>"You're just going to have to discharge me, I'm an orphan!" I protest.<br>"Well then we'll have to contact the orphanage and have one of the staff there come and collect you."  
>"You can't! Zoe you promised you wouldn't!"<br>"Amy, sweetheart calm down. Nick can I have a word?" She asks. I stare at Nick. He stares intently into Zoe's face and vice versa, they both, silently, step outside the cubicle. I can hear them having a hushed conversation, they must think I can't hear but I can. I can hear every word they're saying.  
>"Nick her teachers were asking what parents should be like, that's just cruel! We can't send her back there!" Zoe was saying.<br>"It is cruel, I'm not denying that, but every other kid would have found that harsh too!"  
>"That's different, their parents loved them and its by no fault of the parents that they are in there, they're dead. Amy's are very much alive, have decided they don't love her and got rid of her by choice. I think she'd be a little more affected by that, don't you think? I want to help her, I don't want to send her back there Nick! We have to help her!"<br>"By adopting her!?"  
>"Please, Nick you love me, and I love you, but I can't give you children, we'd have adopted at some point! You know it!"<br>"Yes, but not a fifteen year old!"  
>"Please, can we not even foster her? Nick, please. She needs someone to help and take care of her. She's got really sore hands in there but if we phone that orphanage, she isn't going home to loving parents who will help them heal, she's going home to an angry matron who will give her a hiding and say it serves her right! Please! She opened up to me! Please, just foster her for a while, please?" Nick lets out a long sigh.<br>"Okay, but be sensible about it okay?"  
>"Of course! Thanks Nick!" They come back into the cubicle then.<br>"Amy, we want you to come with us to my office for a minute." Says Nick.  
>"Okay." I say, trying to sound calm and normal even though my insides are doing back flips. Nick leads the way out of the cubicle, down the corridor, past reception and through a big wooden door into his office. It is a very, elegant office, it has a ring of importance to it. A right doctor's office I should think.<br>"Have a seat dear, this is important." Says Zoe. So I sit on one of the black leather chairs facing the desk. Nick sits on the one behind it, Zoe sits next to me.  
>"I don't want to send you back to that orphanage any more than you want to go back." She says. "So Nick and I have reached an agreement. We'd like to foster you Amy, if you'll have us." She smiles.<br>"Oh my gosh! Really? You actually want me! I can't believe it! Really!" I bolt onto Zoe's lap and hug her, then do the same to Nick.  
>"Thank you so much!" I say, wiping a tear out of the corner of my eye.<br>"You're very welcome. Now, we need to arrange it, so you need to tell us what orphanage you're currently in." Said Nick.  
>"Parkinson's Home for Girls. I think it's in the yellow pages." I said.<br>"Yes, I know the one. I have the yellow pages here." He replies. I sit and listen as he phones the orphanage, Zoe has one hand on my back, rubbing it reassuringly.  
>"Yes, we have her here in Holby city hospital, emergency department. We'd like to foster her so please bring the forms along with you, we want to put that into action today. Yes. Thank you, see you then. Bye." He hangs up and looks at me. "That was miss Parkinson on the phone. She's worried about you."<br>"Likely story. Her and the rest of those horrid mistresses will be worried about losing their jobs. It's miss Hannigan and Annie all over again, she'll act distressed to avoid trouble with the law for losing me." Zoe laughed.  
>"Well, you've certainly got all this worked out haven't you! Are you hungry sweetie, I can get you some food in the staff room if you'd like?"I nod.<br>"Oh yes please! I'm starving!" I am, I haven't had anything since that awful porridge.  
>"Well come on then, lets go get you something before your principal arrives. Zoe leads me back the way we just came, left at the corner, down a corridor at reception, around a corner and into another room. It is a nice, friendly looking room with a kitchen at one end and couches and a television (with sky on it) at the other.<br>"Sit down and I'll make you something to eat."  
>"Okay, thank you so much."<br>"That's okay. You can change the channel on that if you want, the remote is on the coffee table." She smiles at me.  
>"Thanks Zoe." I sit down and turn onto the entertainment channel, I scroll for a while and then settle for 'Friends'. I actually cannot believe my luck! I'm getting foster parents! Doctors too! They'll take care of me and they won't send me back to that prison! I'm so happy I hug myself, grinning all the way. I catch Zoe gazing at me warmly as she floats around the kitchen. Soon, there's the smell of melted cheese on toast! My favourite snack! I can't believe that's what Zoe made!<br>"Here you go Amy, enjoy!"  
>"Trust me, I really will!" I make my way over to the breakfast bar and sit down across from Zoe. She hands me one of the two plates and I absolutely devour its contents.<br>"Gosh, you weren't kidding about being hungry! I don't think I've ever seen anyone eat toasted cheese so fast, or enjoy it so much, in all my life!"  
>"Well, I would tell you the food at the orphanage was good and filling, but I'd be lying." Zoe laughs again. I stand up and carry my plate to the sink, fill it with the dish washing liquid and hot water to wash my plate.<br>"Sweetheart you can't do those, you'll wet the dressings on those hands. Besides, Big Mac does the dishes on his break, he likes to."  
>"Oh, yes, I forgot about my hands for a minute there. Sorry. I just, don't like leaving dishes, it's unappreciative of the food you've just eaten, to leave dishes, I mean.<br>"Honestly it's fine, I just saw how appreciative you are! Trust me."  
>"I know. I just wish I could do them and then that would be them done." I smile. Zoe takes the plate I was holding and lowers it into the soapy water.<br>"Trust me, Big Mac will do them. You are a strange kid, you know, most kids your age would ignore dishes and put up a good fight when told to do them." I laugh.  
>"Most kids weren't put into boarding school."<br>"Good point, my dear." She smiles and gives me a hug then. I hug her back. The black lipped, badger eyed girl has almost completely gone. The 'I couldn't care less' attitude, dissolved. One woman has completely changed me, and it feels good. I feel happy. Nick comes in the door then.  
>"Mrs. Parkinson is here." He announces.<br>"Excellent, won't she be glad to see me!" I say, sarcastically. "You watch, Miss Hannigan and Annie, I'm telling you!" Zoe and Nick both laugh at this statement.  
>"I'm beginning to agree with you, she's putting on quite the performance in my office!" He says.<br>"I told you." We all walk back to the office, Nick goes in first, I dawdle a little but Zoe takes me by the hand and winks at me, I feel safe with her, so I wink back and go in.  
>"Amy! Where have you been! Oh! Just look at those hands! How did you manage that!?Oh, I've been so worried! The home studies mistress is tearing her hair out! Oh sweetie come here and let me see you!" She pulls me in for a hug, over her shoulder, Zoe catches me rolling my eyes.<br>"Okay, I'm fine." I say.  
>"Well of course, these nice Doctors have taken care of you!"<br>"Yes, and we'd like to start the process of getting to foster her." Says Nick. "So may we please get it done, after all, the emergency department is a busy place, one of us will have to return to work at some point. Now, don't we need someone from social services down here?"  
>"No, usually you do, and you would have needed interviews and letters of recommendations. However, being a qualified member of social services, my approval is good enough for the government. You will find them signed by myself already, just put your names on the dotted lines and it is done." The paper signing takes all of five minutes. "Now, one of you will have to come with us to pack the girl's things and then she can move in with you."<br>"Nick, you'll have to stay here. I'll go with Amy and Mrs. Parkinson. Doctor Trueman and Doctor Nicholls are out there, Doctor Keogh will arrive in about ten minutes. Will you manage the afternoon short staffed?"  
>"Yes, yes, I'll be fine. You go along and sort things out, mind and take her home to get unpacked and sorted. My shift finishes at seven. I'll see you then. Love you."<br>"Love you too." She bends and kisses him, I look away, feeling they should have a moment of privacy. Mrs. Parkinson apparently doesn't have the same idea.  
>"Shall we go?" She asks politely yet poisonously.<br>"Yes, come on Amy, darling. Lets go get your things." Says Zoe. She takes my hand and leads us out of the hospital. "Mrs. Parkinson, where have you parked?"  
>"Just over here, follow me." So we do. Winking and smiling at one another all of the way.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

We arrive back at the orphanage at one o'clock. Every one of the girls rush to the window to see me coming in, they must think I'm alone with miss Parkinson and about to get murdered for running away. I can tell this is exactly what they had been thinking from the shocked expressions on their faces when they see Zoe with me, holding my hand and looking radiant and happy. We walk up the steps and in the doors. A couple of the mistresses are standing in the hallway looking sour, their lips pursed and their eyes filled with loathing.  
>"Amy, would you kindly go and pack your things?" Says miss Parkinson. I look fearfully at Zoe, she understands me immediately.<br>"I'll come and help you sweetheart." Miss Parkinson looks disappointed, but she doesn't protest.  
>"Come on then, the dorm's this way. My things are up there, there aren't many of them so this shouldn't take long." I tell her.<br>"Okay sweetie, lead the way." She smiles even more radiantly as I lead her to the dorm. When we get there, matron rushes out of her office, however she stops abruptly when she sees Zoe and retreats immediately.  
>"Gosh, they certainly do want you punished for this don't they! It's diabolical!"<br>"Yes, it's also legal. So we can't do anything about it." I sigh.  
>"I know, I hate that." Zoe says. "I wish I could do something about it though."<br>"I know. Lets just get out of here as soon as we can. This is my bed here. " I pull my tiny suitcase out from underneath the bed and open it up as far as it will go.  
>"Where are your things?" Asks Zoe.<br>"They're in this wardrobe here." I open it up and remove the few outfits that I do own and place them in the case. I also slip my arm warmers back on, when Zoe isn't looking, and pull them back up over my sleeves the way I like them. The school bell goes off, it's eleven o'clock.  
>"Must be interval." I say. I finish packing and close the lid.<br>"If that is all you own, we are going to have a serious shopping spree young lady!"  
>"Really!" I exclaim in surprise. "You mean it! In an actual shopping centre! I can't remember the last time I got to go to one of those! I can't believe how lucky I am! You really are the kindest person I've ever met Zoe!"<br>"Thank you darling." She hugs me. "Are you serious, you actually can't remember the last time you went into a shopping centre?"  
>"No I can't, what do they look like? Do they look all shiny in the inside, like they do on television? Or are they identical to outdoors, just, undercover kind of thing?"<br>"Depends where you go really." She says as we walk out of the dormitory.  
>"Amy! Are you really leaving?" I look to see who it was yelling and find Lucy running up the stairs.<br>"Yes, I am. Thank you for all of your help. I won't forget it! I'll write to you!" I hug her.  
>"Your welcome! Oh please do, I'll miss you!"<br>"You too. Bye."  
>"Bye." She says, and runs into the dorm. I smile up at Zoe and she smiles back at me. We both want to leave, so we do. Holding hands all they way to the bottom of the steps outside, partly just to annoy the staff.<br>"Freedom!" I announce as we get outside. Zoe laughs.  
>"Yes, that must be nice, it was like a prison in there!"<br>"You're telling me!" I say, laughing.  
>"Come on you, let's get you home and then we might just have the time to hit the shops before dinner!"<br>"I'm not complaining!" I say. Zoe hails a taxi and tells the driver to take us to 42, on Alfred Hill." He nods and begins to drive.  
>"Well, why don't we exchange pleasantries. Get to know one another kind of thing. Tell me a bit about yourself Amy."<br>"Okay, but it's not exactly interesting. I grew up in Glasgow, ended up in Edinburgh's boarding school for girls, turned into an anti social, emotionally unstable, freak with an insane love of black lipstick and badger eyes. I was expelled for burning some childhood memories, ended up in that prison. One of the mistresses forced the make up off of me, hence I'm not wearing it. Black is my favourite colour and I liked to watch 'E.R'. Whenever I got a chance back at school."  
>"Oh really, who's your favourite character?" Asks Zoe.<br>"Doctor Corday. The one who's played by Alex Kingston. She's amazing."  
>"Yes, she's pretty good. Did you see that episode a couple of weeks back, the one where her baby accidentally had an amphetamine overdose?"<br>"Yes! I almost cried! It was surreal!"  
>"I know, try having to deal with that in real life!"<br>"I don't know how you do it! It was crazy! Why did doctor Corday and her husband hesitate to intubate?"  
>"Well, it couldn't be easy for parents to see their children lying on a bed with all sorts of tubes coming out of them. So the doctors, although they knew that they would have done it for any other baby, didn't want to do it to their daughter."<br>"Oh. Well that makes sense, I suppose."  
>"Yes, it does."<br>"Now tell me about you." I say.  
>"Okay, well, as you know, I'm senior consultant in the E.D. Married to Nick, my favourite colour is blue, dark blue though, like the colour of the night sky. My favourite television show is 'Friends'. I don't mind night shift, I have a cat named Chipetto, he's black with a white tip on his nose. I can't have children. I love my career and it takes up most of my life so I'm glad I enjoy it." She laughs.<br>"Cool. I mean, not that you can't have children, that is not cool, but the rest is." I say, awkwardly.  
>"I knew what you meant, don't worry."<br>"Chipetto, huh?" I say sarcastically. Changing the subject.  
>"Yes!" She exclaims indignantly, laughing. "I came up with the idea of having a cat named Chipetto when I was a child, I just never got one until last year. So I called him Chipetto."<br>"Nice. I'm sure that sounds great when the neighbours hear you out in your garden. 'Chipetto, come off of the fence now! Chipetto!' Or do you call him chip for short, so that the neighbours don't think you're a complete maniac?"  
>"No, I shout Chipetto. I must sound completely bonkers!"<br>"Oh well. It's a cool name. How long have you and Nick been married?"  
>"12 years."<br>"Wow. That's cool."  
>"Yes. It is. He really wants a baby though. He'll be a bit cool with you for a while, if you know what I mean. He loves children, and really wants some of his own but, I forced this on him and it will be a bit of a shock, he'll, he'll be a bit stand-offish for a while. Take no notice. He'll warm up to you in no time."<br>"Okay Zoe."  
>"Cool. Look, this is us now." The taxi pulls over in front of a large gleaming white, rendered, two story house. It has perfectly green grass, no weeds and a thin bed of flowers lining the edges of the lawn. They have pansies in them.<br>"What do you think?" Asks Zoe, smiling. She's already paid the driver and he's driving back down the street again.  
>"I think it's marvellous!" I say.<br>"Well, lets go in, I'll show you around."  
>"Okay." I pick up my suitcase and follow her up the drive way to the front door. Zoe unlocks the door and we step inside. I find myself in a small hall way, there is a sitting room to my left, a glass door, leading into another, much larger sitting room, on my right and stairs in the centre.<br>"I'll show you around upstairs first, let you put your suitcase in your room." She smiles and then begins ascending the stairs. I follow her. At the top, there is a larger hall way that is the shape of a square. On the first side are the stairs, to the right of which is an airing cupboard. On the side across from that, Zoe opens a door revealing a very large bathroom.  
>"Mick and I have an En Suite so you'll have everything in there to yourself except the bath." She says smiling. On the left side, she shows me her and Mick's room and a spare room. She then takes me to the right and shows me another spare room before showing me my own room.<br>"This is you my dear. It's the largest of the three spare rooms. I think it will be good for you." She winks at me. "I'll go down and make some tea while you unpack. If you finish before me, just head down the stairs, into the large living area and follow it through, the door at the other end is a kitchen. Are you all right?" She asks.  
>"Yes I'm fine, I'm just, well... No one's ever treated me as well as you have! I don't know how I'll ever repay you for this Zoe!" I run over and hug her, tight.<br>"Don't worry, you don't have to. I promise." She kisses the top of my head.


	6. Chapter 6

"Right, what do you take in your tea?"  
>"Just milk, loads of it." I say, smiling.<br>"Right, well, I'll bring that up as soon as its ready." She heads back downstairs and I set to work unpacking. The large wardrobe looks extremely bare, it needs clothes. I fill it with the three outfits and two pairs of shoes that I own and step back to look at it. No, it still looks bare. Excellent. I place my make up bag on the bedside table and then head downstairs to find Zoe. I don't struggle too much to find the kitchen. It's exactly where Zoe said it would be, the end of the living room. It's a massive kitchen, so large that it fits a whole breakfast table at one end of it and still has room for another one. It's walls are cream and it has beige units and a large cooker with a massive, stainless steel, cooker hood. It looks amazing. Zoe catches me looking at it in awe.  
>"Like it?"<br>"It's magnificent!" I exclaim.  
>"I thought you'd think so. This is my hide out, this kitchen! I spend more time here than I do in the living room!" I laugh. Zoe hands me a mug. "Tea's ready." She says with a smile.<br>"Thanks." I take it and drink. She's made it just the way I like it! "Gosh you're good at making tea!" I exclaim.  
>"Of course I am, I'm British! It's how we deal with things." She says and we both start laughing. "Finish that up and we'll head to the shops."<br>"Okay! That's going to be fun!" I reply. I sit down on the chair and drink some more of my tea.  
>"Would you like a biscuit?" Zoe asks.<br>"No thanks, I'd never be able to eat dinner."  
>"Are you serious, dinner won't be for ages, one biscuit isn't going to make a difference?"<br>"Trust me. We've just eaten lunch, a much bigger and better lunch than what I'm used to, a biscuit would spoil my dinner. I promise."  
>"Amy, we had toasted cheese, how is that any bigger and better than what you're used to?" She asks.<br>"Well, at school, lunch consisted of a boiled egg and two slices of buttered bread. Not toasted."  
>"That's child abuse!" Zoe exclaimed.<br>"No, that's budgeting." She cracks up laughing and I smile at her. "You're just not used to it, so it seems a barbaric concept. But it's not. Kept us skinny."  
>"Yes, but you're the opposite of healthy. Do me a favour and show me your rib cage." I looked a little confused. "Just pull your top up a bit and let me see. I'm a doctor, remember? Trust me on this one." I am still confused, but, I do it anyway. Zoe gasps in horror. "That's not legal! You are seriously under weight! Of course a biscuit will spoil your dinner, you don't have room for one!" She shouts. Okay, so maybe my ribs are a little more defined than they should be, and maybe there's a slight shadow underneath the bottom ones... Surely that's not something to be panicky about. Every other kid I know looks pretty much he same.<br>"How much do you weigh?" Zoe asks, worried.  
>"Um, 30 to 35 kilos... Last time I checked. Why?" She looks as though someone has winded her.<br>"You're fifteen years old. You should be at least 50 kilos! Not 35! That is ridiculous! None of those teachers should be allowed to get away with this!"  
>"I'm almost certain that no matter what we do, they will and do get away with this. Besides, I feel fine! I'm perfectly okay, I promise. Please, don't worry about it! For your own state of mind, don't start worrying about me."<br>"Well, I am worrying you. Have you been this underweight much long?"  
>"I never knew I was underweight. Every other kid I know looks pretty much the same. I guess I've always looked like this..."<br>"Oh Amy!" She exclaims. "I promise I will make it my life's mission to fix this."  
>"Zoe, don't worry, you don't have to!"<br>"Amy, I do have to." She looks near tears.  
>"Okay, but lets not let this get us down. Eh?" I say, trying to be cheerful.<br>"You're right." she says "Enough of the scary chats, lets hit the shops and have a bit of fun, shall we?"  
>"Yes, lets do!" I say, suddenly forgetting the frightfully serious discussion that we've just finished.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Zoe grabs her hand bag from the kitchen table and then leads me back outside the house. She locks the door and then turns to face me.  
>"You know, I think I'll drive."<br>"Okay."  
>"Yes. Come with me." She says. She leads me round to the garage and opens it. I lay my eyes upon a convert-able Mercedes.<br>"Wow!"  
>"Yeah, she's my baby." I laugh.<br>"She's magnificent. You're going to take her to the shops?"  
>"Why not? In you get." She smiles and gets into the drivers seat while I clamber into the passenger seat. I listen, but the car hardly makes a peep as Zoe forces it into gear and reverses off of the drive way.<br>"What are you thinking about?" She asks. "You look so serious."  
>"I was just thinking about how good this car is. That's all." I smile at her, a gesture which she gladly returns. "How far away is the shopping centre?" I ask.<br>"Only a short way away."  
>"Cool."<br>"Can you actually not remember a shopping centre? Or are you just exaggerating?" She asks.  
>"No, I really can't remember." I reply.<br>"Now that is sad." I laugh.  
>"Well, I always thought it was better not to know what I was missing out on."<br>"A valid point. But trust, me, you really have been missing out."  
>"I believe you. I promise." I say, laughing.<p>

We pull up in a large car park outside a large, four story shopping centre. It's absolutely huge. Zoe goes off and then returns with a sticker to display in the car, so that people can see we've paid.  
>"Well, come on, lets go show you a shopping centre." She takes my hand and leads me out of the car park, towards the large building. We enter it through a shop called 'Debenhams'. This shop takes up four floors which I think is pretty awesome! It's the same shop, in the same place, all the way up! They just have a different department on each floor. Outside of Debenhams, I lay my eyes upon loads more shops. I was wrong about the size of the centre too, it's five stories, there's a floor where the basement should be.<br>"Come on, lets hit Next." Zoe says,taking me by he hand and leading me out of Debenhams.  
>"Sure." She takes me up a floor and along to the end into a large clothing store called Next.<br>"This is my favourite shop." She says. "I swear by Next. Best quality and completely affordable!"  
>"So heaven on earth then?"<br>"Of course!" She says, laughing. "Right. You're gonna need all sorts, you can't live life on three outfits. That's just not how things work. Excuse me?" She calls at a near by assistant. "Yeah, high. Amy here needs a whole new wardrobe." She says, pointing at me.  
>"Yeah, sure!" Says the girl, smiling. "Where would you like to start?" She asks Zoe.<br>"Probably casual stuff, jeans and skirts, T-shirts and jumpers. You know. Then we'll move on to formalwear and shoes."  
>"Yep, sure." Before long I've been huckled to a changing room. Zoe and the assistant are throwing all sorts of clothes at me. Dresses, trousers, knickers and bras. The works. To be honest, I feel a bit like Pollyanna when her Aunt took her to the shop to get store-bought clothes for the first time. The scene looks exactly like that one, just more modern.<br>"Here Amy, try on these shoes." Says Zoe. "Oh and while you're at it, try on these jeans." It's chaos. We tolerate an hour of the mayhem and then happily decide to call it a day. Zoe and the assistant carry the clothes to the counter for Zoe to pay for them. I stand watching, embarrassed at the amount I know Zoe is about to spend on me.  
>"Right, well, now that that's done, you're gonna need some wet weather gear. I think we should get you a jacket and some wellies for when it's snowing."<br>"Okay."  
>"I'll get you a jacket in JD's, it seems to be all the rage right now for you teenagers to have a Mackenzie jacket, or whatever it is they call them. But then I'll get you a more sensible one, a winter one, elsewhere."<br>"Zoe, I don't want you to do all of that, I can live with one jacket, I've lived this long without any."  
>"I don't care, I can afford to buy you ten jackets if I like. Now be good little shopper and do as you're told."<br>"But-"  
>"Ah, no. But, nothing. I haven't had a chance to spoil a child yet. You are my chance. Plus you need a jacket. Besides, you'll need a lighter weight one for the summer and a heavy weight one for the winter. It's common sense. Argument over."<br>"Thank you Zoe." I say, defeat. She starts to whisk me across the the shopping centre again, only this time she leads me into JD's.  
>"Okay. A Mackenzie jacket. Right..." She's mumbling to herself as I follow her over to the back of the store.<br>"These are actually all right looking. Now, these white ones are lovely, and they have them in grey and black too. Those ones are very nice too! Which one do you like?" She asks me.  
>"Erm, I like all of them Zoe. Which one is your favourite?" I reply.<br>"Okay, well, I actually really like these ones. White is nice, but would you spill things on it?"  
>"Most definitely. I'm the clumsiest person on the planet."<br>"Okay, well what about the grey one then?"  
>"Okay, sure, it is lovely isn't it?" I say.<br>"Yes. Okay. Here we go, this ones a size 8. That is the smallest. It's going to be big on you, but then I guess you'll get some wear out of it."  
>"Yeah, that's always a plus." I try it on, it's wide on me and the sleeves are a bit long, but it's great. "Zoe it's fab!"<br>"Well then I think we've found what we came for, haven't we!" She says.  
>"Yes, I think we have." I take off the jacket and wait patiently as Zoe pays for it.<br>"Okay. Lets head to 'Outdoor World' for a winter jacket and a pair of wellies. Then we'll head home, my lovely."  
>"Okay. Thank you so much Zoe."<br>"That's okay. Stop thanking me! You are completely fine. These things are basic human rights! You need them, and I love shopping. So you're fine."  
>"I know, but thanks all the same."<br>"That's quite all right."


	8. Chapter 8

We pull up on the driveway back at the house, it's 6 o'clock and Zoe wants to get the dinner on, ready for Nick coming home from the E.D.  
>"Right, we'll get these up to your room and then you can relax for a bit, watch the telly or something."<br>"Okay. Thanks." The two of us set to work lugging the many shopping bags from the boot up to my bedroom. The bags are quite heavy but they're manageable. We put the down on my bed and then I turn around to face Zoe.  
>"Well my lovely, I'm heading to the kitchen to make the dinner."<br>"Okay, I'll get these unpacked and hung up. Listen Zoe, thanks. A lot. I really appreciate all of this."  
>"I know you do. Don't worry about it. See you in a bit." She hugs me quickly and then leaves the room.<br>"See you." I call after her, as I watch her descend the stairs, the ones that I can see, that is. There's a lot to be done, I have about fifteen bags to unpack and hang up. I set to work. Having a slight thing about neatness, I make sure all of my jackets and jumpers go at the left hand side of my wardrobe, the jeans go next to them, skirts next, tops after those and then my dresses at the right hand side. That wasn't so bad, it can't have been ten minutes and I'm already finished. Okay, time for all of the shoes. I put my trainers in the back, left hand corner, next to those are my new converse, next to those, my ballet flats and on the back right, my new high heels, those will probably never get worn, but, Zoe insisted. I really like Zoe. She really wants to help me, not like the teachers who were incapable of even pretending to care, not like the orphanage who cared, but no where near enough, not like the people who stopped to ask if I was okay this morning, when I hurt my hands. She is sincere, and I really, really hope I am able to show her how much it means to me. I head back downstairs and make my way through to the kitchen.  
>"Hey, have you finished all of that already?" Zoe asks.<br>"Yeah, I have actually. I thought it would take longer than that, but it was surprisingly easy."  
>"Well that's good. I'm making lasagne, do like that?"<br>"Of course! That's really cool! I haven't had lasagne for months!"  
>"Child, you've been deprived!" She says, laughing.<br>"I don't disagree. I love lasagne."  
>"I'm glad. Do us a favour and set the table would you sweetie?"<br>"Of course."  
>"Cutlery is in that top drawer just there. Cups are in that cupboard and the juice is in the fridge."<br>"Okay, cool." I set to work doing that and Zoe returns to the dinner."  
>"How are your hands? Do you need any painkillers, sweet?"<br>"They're fine thanks Zoe. Don't worry about me!"  
>"Well I am."<br>"I know but please, try not to?"  
>"Yeah, not going to happen. Okay, now, tomorrow's going to be a bit weird for you I'm afraid. Being senior consultant, I can't take any more time off, and you haven't been enrolled in school yet, besides, it's July, you'd be on break anyway in about four days time, so, would you mind coming to work with me, you can chill out in the staff room. I just don't want you staying in here by yourself because those hands need seeing to. The dressings will need changed at some stage tomorrow and that is not something you can do by yourself. So, will the staff room be too boring or will you live?"<br>"I'll be fine. Thank you so much Zoe." I say as I place the last glass of juice down on the table.  
>"You're welcome, and thanks for doing that." Zoe says.<br>"That's okay." I sit down at the table and watch her bob around the kitchen making the dinner.  
>"Are you all right, Amy?" She asks me.<br>"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, you?"  
>"Yeah, I'm great, you look sort of, miserable, though. You sure you're okay? Hands okay? Feeling well?"<br>"Yes, Zoe. I promise, I'm fine." This is a lie, my head is pounding and I don't know why. I don't intend to tell Zoe this, however, because then she would just start worrying all over again.  
>"Okay, but you'd better tell me if there's something up, okay?"<br>"Sure."  
>"Okay." She goes back to cooking and I just sit there and watch her. I don't want to distract her from cooking, she seems so intent on getting it done, so I just sit quiet. She seems to know that I just want left to my thoughts just now too, she's considerate like that. It's nice to just sit here any way. We've had a big day today, a massive day really. Deciding in a minute to foster a kid couldn't be easy on anyone. To be perfectly happy with your life one minute and then have to shape it to fit a teenager in all of a sudden would certainly be difficult on anyone, and yet, she seems to just know what she's doing with the situation she's in and she's content with it. It seems crazy!<br>"Did you hear a car there?" Zoe says, breaking the silence.  
>"No, did you?"<br>"I thought I did. Maybe it's Nick. I'll go and see." She says, putting the broccoli down and heading out of the kitchen. I hear the front door open then.  
>"You know, it's crazy how progress works nowadays." Someone says sarcastically. "Just lift your key and the door opens. Magic!" Zoe and Nick laugh.<br>"Come on you! Amy's in the kitchen waiting on us."  
>"I know." They shut the door and walk through to the kitchen.<br>"Hello again Amy."  
>"Hi." I say. "Had a good day?"<br>"Yes, thanks. You?"  
>"Yeah, best one yet to be honest." I tell him. Zoe laughs again.<br>"What have you made for dinner, sweet?" Asks Nick.  
>"Lasagne's in the oven, I'm just about to start the veg."<br>"Mm, sounds good."  
>"It will be, I made it." Says Zoe matter-of-factly, making Nick laugh.<br>"Naturally. What did you two do today?"  
>"We went shopping. Didn't we Amy?"<br>"Did we ever! First time I'd been in a shopping centre for ages!"  
>"I know, you know she couldn't even remember what a shopping centre looked like?!"<br>"Mm. Spend a lot then?" Zoe blushes. "Thought so. Whenever the words 'Zoe' and 'shopping centre' are put together, in the same sentence, my wallet cries." He says laughing. He walks over and kisses Zoe, I look a way. I didn't want to spoil their moment by staring at them.  
>"I have to put the veg on." Zoe says.<br>"I know. Right, I'll go get a shower quickly and pop straight down again."  
>"Okay." He kisses her again and then leaves the kitchen.<p>

"You've gone all quiet again." Zoe says.  
>"Yes, I know."<br>"Amy, I told you, if something's up, you have to tell me. You would tell me, wouldn't you?"  
>"Yes, I promise. It's nothing, just a head ache. Totally fine."<br>"I'm a doctor Amy, I do own paracetamol, you know. You should have said. It's just shock, it's been a big day for you, what with your hands and everything else that's happened. Here," she says, opening a cupboard and removing the largest box of medical supplies that the world has ever seen. "take two of these." She hands me two paracetamol. I take them, pick up my glass and swallow them down.  
>"Thanks Zoe."<br>"You're welcome." She returns the box to the cupboard and then checks the broccoli again. "I can't work out why you didn't just say something."  
>"I thought you'd just worry."<br>"I see. Well, in future, don't worry about it, just tell me."  
>"Okay. Thanks Zoe, I really appreciate it."<br>"I know, sweetheart." She turns to the now boiling, pot of veg, turns it off, takes out some plates and serves the veg. Then she turns off the oven, removes the lasagne and puts it onto the plates too, just as Michael walks in the door.  
>"Ah, perfect timing." He says with a smile.<br>"Don't you know it!" Zoe replies, laughing. "Can't get you to turn up to anything on time, but as soon as there's food in the picture, it's a whole other story, am I right?"  
>"Yes, I think you might be." They laugh. "How do you like your new room Amy?" He asks me.<br>"I love it! I'd forgotten what it was like to have my own bedroom, my own space. I really love it. Thank you so much."  
>"That's quite all right dear." I smile. Zoe puts the plates on the table and then finally sits down.<br>"Dig in everyone." I don't even hesitate to think about it before cutting into the marvellous lasagne. It has got to be the best lasagne I've ever eaten.  
>"Wow."<br>"Like it?" Zoe asks, smiling.  
>"It's amazing!"<br>"Yes, one of Zoe's bests, lasagne is." Nick says, looking adoringly at Zoe.  
>"I can tell!" I say, happily.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

I wake up to an alarm buzzing in the hall way. For a second, I am confused at my surroundings, then I remember all of yesterday's happenings and smile to myself. I get up and walk out into the hall to find Zoe at the top of the stairs, about to descend them.  
>"Morning," she says. "Sleep all right?"<br>"Yes, thanks Zoe, you?"  
>"Marvellous. Nick's already gone, he left an hour ago. I'll go down and start the breakfast, why don't you jump into the shower while I'm doing that?"<br>"Sure, sounds good."  
>"Okay, well, towels are there in that airing cupboard, shampoo and conditioner are in the shower. Enjoy."<br>"Thanks Zoe." She goes down the stairs and I cross to the cupboard to get a towel. Thanks to the boiler, the towels are nice and warm and, for a second or two, I just stand there hugging the towel, enjoying the heat. I go into the bathroom, lock the door and get into the shower. It's nice and hot. Exactly what you want on a cold morning like this one. There's Treseme shampoo on the floor. I pick it up without thinking and, almost like a robot, squeeze some onto my hand.  
>"Well crap." I drop the shampoo, turn off the shower and dry myself as fast, and as carefully, as is humanly possible. I put some clothes on as fast as I can and run downstairs to Zoe.<br>"Zoe, small problem."  
>"What's that?" She says with a yawn.<br>"I can't shower. Not properly." I lift up my hands and show her.  
>"Oh. I forgot about that!" Zoe exclaims.<br>"Yeah, me too, hence the shampoo which, luckily, this giant plaster has prevented from reaching the cuts below."  
>"Yes that is lucky. Right, here's what we'll do, I'll change the dressings, I'm not too sure how long your hands will be protected from that shampoo, then I'll wash your hair over the sink. Sound good?"<br>"Yeah. Thanks Zoe."  
>"No problem. Sit down at the table, I'll get the stuff out." She opens up the cupboard and pulls down all of the medical supplies again. "Right," She puts it on the table and sits down next to me. "Show me these hands. I hold them up to her and she carefully and gently peels off yesterday's, sopping wet dressings. Now that I can feel the air on the cuts, they sting a bit, but it's okay. "I still actually, cannot believe how much glass you got in these hands!"<br>"I know, my hands can't quite believe it either, I don't think." Zoe laughs.  
>"Well, once the dressings are back on, they might be able to relax a bit."<br>"I hope so." She checks the stitches and then re-applies the same kind of giant plaster to each hand. They're called primapores, they cover up everything. She then takes a couple of thin bandages out of the box and begins to bandage over the primapores.  
>"This'll make sure these dressings stay on. I'll have to go up your arm a tiny bit, to be able to tie the bandages off properly." I turn away from her. "Don't look so grim, I won't go further up than your wrists, relax." I lift my sleeve a little. "Sweetheart, that isn't going to do much good." Zoe pushes it up a little further, gasps and pushes it all the way up to my elbow. "Now I understand the logic behind the arm warmers." She looks miserable. "Amy, when did you do this?"<br>"The first year at school. Zoe I'm sorry, I was miserable, there was no one... no one to talk to, I didn't know how to handle things. I was just so angry, all of the time. I couldn't take my anger out on the ones I wanted to so... so..."  
>"You took it out on your arms." She swallows, she looks as though she could start crying.<br>"I'm sorry Zoe, really I am, I'm not going to do it again."  
>"Sweetheart don't apologise to me, I'm not angry, I am hurt. It pains me to think that a child, a child your age, could become so miserable, have so little help, that they felt they had to do this to themselves."<br>"I'm sorry, I won't do it again." I feel tears welling up in my eyes. Zoe lets the rest of the bandage just dangle and then hugs me. "I'm really sorry."  
>"Amy, shh, I'm not angry, calm down and lets finish sorting these hands. Okay?"<br>"Yes." I sit patiently and quietly as she finishes.  
>"Okay. I've made you a bowl of porridge, it's on the counter, I've finished mine already, so whilst you're eating that, I'll get showered and dressed and then we'll sort you out, okay?"<br>"Okay. Thanks Zoe."  
>"You're welcome, my lovely." I have to admit, I like it when she calls me that, reminds me that she cares about me. For once in my life, I feel wanted by an adult, an adult wants to love me and cares about my presence. I don't ever want to let this go, I will do anything and everything to make Zoe and Michael aware that I am not mistake. I won't let them down. I eat the porridge quickly. Unlike the one at school, this porridge has been made with love. It has sugar in it and it is sweet, not bitter like the cardboard... stuff the canteen lady's slopped onto trays for us, that stuff was porridge ala food poisoning, Zoe's is great. After I finish it, I open up the dish washer and place my bowl and spoon in it, then I turn to the sink and begin to transfer the large pile of dishes that it holds, over to the dishwasher. I hum a little to myself as I do this, surprisingly enough, I'm blissfully happy, doing chores that no one told me to do. It's great. I don't even hear Zoe re-enter the kitchen and I nearly jump out of my skin when she says,<br>"Right munchkin, lets get you sorted."  
>"Oh, Zoe, jeez you scared me there!" I exclaim.<br>"Oh, sorry sweetheart, I never meant to scare you."  
>"I know, wow. Okay."<br>"You didn't have to do that dishwasher you know." She says as she puts the shampoo, conditioner and a towel down next to the sink.  
>"I know, but I wanted to." She then begins to run the water to get it warm.<br>"Okay, come here, bend over the sink."  
>"Okay." She moves the tap over my head to get my hair wet again. Most of it had dried since earlier.<br>"Right, close your eyes so that I can do the shampoo." It doesn't take very long to do my hair, however, when we do finish, there's no time to dry it as Zoe's shift starts in twenty five minutes. I dress quickly, brush it and stick it into french plaits instead.  
>"Looks good." Zoe says as the two of us head out to the car.<br>"Thanks." I slide into the passenger seat and Zoe starts the car.  
>"Oh, I almost forgot. Surprise!" She hands me a small bag, I open it to find a brand new iphone.<br>"Oh my gosh!" I exclaim in surprise. "Zoe, this is seriously, awesome! This is too much!"  
>"No it isn't, enjoy it. I've already set it up and Nick and I's numbers are already in the contacts. I hope you like it."<br>"I do! Oh, I really do!" I slip it into the top pocket in my jacket and zip it up.  
>"Excellent. Now, to the casualty."<br>"Yes, and beyond." I add and Zoe laughs. It's a 15 minute drive to the hospital from here so Zoe switches on the radio and I sit back and listen. We pull up to the first set of lights, it's a cross junction, not entirely common. In my opinion, a round about would have been more efficient here, but any way. Zoe and I are the only ones in our row, and, funnily enough, we're the last ones to get a turn in the sequence. Zoe pulls out in first gear and barely gets a chance to put it into second when there's a loud BANG from her side of the car.


	10. Chapter 10

"ZOE!" I scream. But it's too late, the car's rolling, there's glass flying everywhere, the airbags have deployed, I can't even see Zoe any more and I'm scared, she hasn't replied.  
>"Zoe! Zoe please!" I scream, still no reply. Suddenly, I feel a sharp, stabbing pain in my left leg. I let out a long scream, it's muffled by the airbag though, I feel like I'm being suffocated, I can't even see what it is that's hurting me. The car skids to a halt on its roof. As fast as I can, I push the airbag as far out of my face as my arms can handle. Zoe's unconscious and bleeding, badly. I struggle a bit as I manoeuvre my hand to the door handle. By the grace of some soul that must be looking out for us, it does open. I squirm out of the car as best I can without pushing the piece of metal, that's now stuck in my leg, any further into my leg. As soon as I'm out, I run round to Zoe's Side of the car. Her door does not open, but I have to get her out, I can smell petrol. As it is only about half past six, the roads aren't busy, hardly anyone even knows there's been a crash let alone come trying to help us. The ones that have seen are late for work, they don't stop either. I bolt back around to my door, grab a piece of sharp metal from the ground and burst the airbag. I then burst Zoe's as well.<br>"Zoe, can you hear me? Zoe!" I give her a shake, she still doesn't wake. The smell of petrol is getting stronger. I put my arms around Zoe and do my best to pull her from the car as gently as I can. It's not easy and I don't know if I'm causing more damage or not, I feel really quite sick over it. It takes a while but I manage to pull Zoe out of the car. Once out, I drag her up the side of the road to what I believe is a safe distance. It is extremely lucky that I have done this because, just as I'm laying her, gently, down on the Tarmac, the car catches fire. I scream again. For a couple of seconds, I don't have a clue what to do, then I notice, I have my phone in my pocket, and it's intact. I unlock it, thankfully it has no password, and head straight to the contacts to find Michael's number. I hit call.  
>"Hello, what's up?" Asks a chirpy Nick<br>"N-nick? It's A-Amy."  
>"Amy what's wrong?"<br>"I-It's Zoe. S-Some, idiot, c-cut a red light. She w-won't wake up, I can't g-get her to w-wake up. Michael. You have to come, y-you have to c-come save her!" I cry into the phone.  
>"WHAT! Amy, tell me exactly where you are, I'll bring the paramedics. Dixie, Jeff!" I hear him shout. "We need to go, Zoe's had a bad car accident." He tells them. I'm assuming they are the paramedics.<br>"We're on the cross junction at the e-end of Reed s-street."  
>"Okay. Amy, you said she was unconscious, is she breathing?"<br>"Um, h-hold on" I bend down and listen at Zoe's face to check her breathing.  
>"Yes b-but it is s-slow."<br>"Oh god. Get her into the recovery position, do you know how to do that?"  
>"Yes."<br>"Do it." I lay the phone down on the road and gently put Zoe into the recovery position.  
>"Okay. Are you nearly here?" I ask.<br>"We just got into the ambulance, stay calm we're coming."  
>"I can't stay calm! Zoe's unconscious! And she's bleeding, bad."<br>"Oh, don't. Just try to stay calm, we're on our way." It's surreal. I can hear the man in the car that hit us, he's screaming, I don't dare leave Zoe but, and the paramedics are coming. Besides, if he's screaming, he's alive. Not that I'm even remotely worried about him anyway. I pull a lock of Zoe's, hair, out of one of the gashes on her face and put it behind her ear. I'm crying. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe this has happened to Zoe. Zoe who's become a mother to me in less than 24 hours, who doesn't care that I'm not hers, but has taken me in anyway and loved me just the same. Please God let her survive this! I'm crying, and shuddering with the pain in my leg, and from the glass that's embedded in different parts of my body. Also, my nose was smashed with the airbag, seriously hope it hasn't broken it. The ambulance speeds towards us and skids to a halt just metres away. Nick gets out and runs to Zoe's side, medical pack on already. Before I can even process the situation, he has an oxygen mask on her and has her hooked up to a machine measuring her pulse and what not. He's also got a litre of saline running into her arm, one of the paramedics goes to treat the man in the other car, the other tries to treat me but I refuse.  
>"No! Zoe, save Zoe." She's reluctant, but she has to do it, she can't treat me if I've refused, which I have.<br>"I'm so sorry Nick, this is all my fault!" I cry.  
>"How could this be your fault? You didn't do this." Says the paramedic.<br>"I sh-should've seen the other car! I sh-should've been able to w-warn her!" The paramedic turns to me and pats me on the back.  
>"It wouldn't have made a difference sweet, the other driver is drunk and was indicating to turn into your lane, in a way, it's better like this because, otherwise, he would have hit you head on."<br>"I d-don't care! I j-just want Z-Zoe to w-wake up!" I wail. Nick and the paramedic, Dixie, have got Zoe onto a bed and are currently putting her in the back of the ambulance. A second ambulance has arrived for the other driver. I sit next to Cathy in the back of Zoe's Ambulance. Nick wanted to sit there but, as Dixie wanted to keep an eye on me, should I faint or suddenly need some form emergency treatment also, I've ended up in the back. I hold Zoe's hand, I want her to know I'm here and that I'm worried, seeing as I can't tell her this, I feel like crap.  
>"Zoe, please, w-wake up now." I whisper. Nothing happens and I sink back and begin to cry again. I knew she wasn't going to wake up but I really want her to, and she doesn't. Dixie puts an arm around me and says,<br>"Come on sweetie, she'll be okay. I promise." Nick beside himself, he can't stop worrying, he keeps talking to her too. Nothing seems to be working.


	11. Chapter 11

We arrive at the hospital and, as we open the doors to the ambulance, a team of two doctors and three nurses are there already, assisting the paramedics in getting Zoe into the hospital. Nick is there helping them in an instant.  
>"Okay, we've got Zoe Lewis here, aged 32, driver in a side on car accident, GCS of 5 at the scene, dropped to 4 since, BP 9050, pulse 130 and sats at 83 percent. She's been given a litre of saline so far and oxygen throughout, that's all."  
>"Okay, thanks Dixie, bed 3 in resus please Mac."<br>"No problem doc." Says the porter and he and the other doctors take Zoe through a set of double doors through to resus. I go to follow them but a nurse stops me.  
>"Whoa, sweetie, you need treating."<br>"I d-don't want treating. N-need to s-see Zoe."  
>"You can see her in a minute, not yet, these wounds need stitched. Come with me and I'll do that."<br>"No, I don't want t-treating, please, don't b-bother. Take me to s-see Zoe."  
>"All right, but at least let me give some pain killers?"<br>"I'm not in pain."  
>"Okay. Resus is this way." She sighs and leads me through the same double doors that they took Zoe through, down a short corridor and into resus. It was like stepping into the scene of a horror movie. Just as I walk in the door, one of the doctors shout,<br>"Right, she's in VF, lets shock her!" Nick is crying, the nurse who showed me in runs over to help. They have a much larger and much scarier looking oxygen mask on her now. They stick some orange, gel pads on her chest and attempt to jump start her heart. I jump myself and start crying again. It's horrible, really horrible.  
>"No, it didn't work, resume resuscitation." Everyone sighs, Nick sobs. I just stand here, helpless, terrified and clueless. Minutes pass, nothing happens.<br>"Okay, lets shock her again. Charging... And... All clear." They shock her again, the whole bed shudders. "Nurse?" The doctor asks. The nurse immediately checks Zoe's pulse.  
>"Back in sinus rhythm." I heave a sigh of relief.<br>"Thank god." Says Michael.  
>"Okay, can we get some more adrenaline, Jay, can you cross match one unit just in case please and lets intubate." One of the nurses runs for the adrenaline, another wheels over a tray with the stuff the doctor needs to intubate lying on it. I watch as he carefully puts the tubes down into Zoe's airway and I am extremely grateful when it's successful. It's awful, it's really awful to see her lying there with all of those tubes coming out of her. Now I actually understand why Doctor Corday, on E.R, didn't want to intubate her daughter, it really is awful to see.<br>"What's happening, what's happening to Zoe?" I ask.  
>"One of the nurses comes over and begins to explain.<br>"Well, she's obviously been through quite a trauma sweetie, so we need to make sure shes breathing. That's what that machine is doing."  
>"But why, why can't she breath?! She was breathing earlier! Why not now?!" I wail at the nurse.<br>"Darling, she's fighting, but her body's getting tired, she just needs a little help, that's all." The words 'that's all' seem completely weird and unfair in this situation. That isn't all, Zoe isn't breathing by herself, how can that be all?  
>"Okay, Kirsty, can you get on to CT Please? Tell them it's urgent." Asks the doctor who has been treating Zoe.<br>"Yep." She goes over to the phone to call for the scan.  
>"Nick, is Zoe g-going to be okay?" I ask, scared.<br>"I... I don't know." My heart sinks. Zoe's been nothing but a darling to me, how can something as awful as this, happen to someone as beautiful and caring as Zoe. It just isn't right.  
>"Right, Amy, is it?" I nod. "Lets get you seen to."<br>"No! You're not getting anywhere near me until Zoe has woken up and I know she's going to be okay."  
>"Amy, don't be silly. You need treating! First off, you must be in a lot of pain and, second off, you're risking making those wounds worse." He says.<br>"I don't care. You aren't getting near me until Zoe's better. Besides, I can't feel them anyway, so it's fine."  
>"That's just adrenaline. It won't last forever."<br>"I know. But that's my decision." The nurse, Kirsty, comes back over,  
>"CT can take her now, right now. I'll go get Big Mac."<br>"Good." She leaves again. Moments later, she returns with the porter.  
>"I'll come with you." Says Nick, suddenly. I immediately follow as well. No one stops me, but I don't dare go any further than to the lift, as much as I want to see that Zoe is okay, I don't want to annoy Nick.<br>"No, Amy, come with us, she likes you, a lot." He says. So I get into the lift beside them. Cautiously, I take hold of Zoe's hand again. Nick smiles weakly. The elevator comes to a halt and the doors open. They wheel Zoe down a couple of corridors and into the CT scan room. They have to lift her onto the bed and line everything up properly, so I wait outside. Once she's in the right position, they come outside and close the door. I don't like the idea of Zoe being in that scary looking room all by herself.  
>"Come on, Amy, we need to go into the other room."<br>"But, what about Zoe?" I ask, helplessly.  
>"She's fine. Plus, you'll be able to see her from the other room. Come on."<br>So we all traipse into the small room to watch Zoe's CT. I hate seeing her lying in there so helplessly. The CT scan takes minutes, no time at all really. Big Mac, Noc, the doctor and Kirsty go back for Zoe, I tag along behind. Nick is given a funny, electrical device, it looks a bit like a thick iPad. He uses it to view the scan. The other doctor looks too.  
>"Yep, there's an inter cranial bleed. Lets get her back to resus."<br>"I'll do it." Says Nick. "I'll do the surgery, you can assist. I'm not waiting on the surgeons to crawl down to the ED. I'm not risking it."  
>"Are you sure that's a good idea, it's extremely hard not to involve your emotions when treating family, Nick, and this is a serious procedure."<br>"Adam, I'm fully trained and quite well known for my surgical skills. I will do it."  
>"Okay." We go back down to resus. Zoe is turned onto her side and prepared for surgery.<br>"What's happening?" I ask, worried. Kirsty comes over to me again.  
>"Zoe's got a bit of free blood in her head, it's pushing on her brain. The doctors are just going to perform a procedure that will drain the blood and, hopefully, it will result in Zoe waking up faster."<br>"Oh." I say. Nick and the other doctor are putting on full sleeve aprons and bandannas, they sanitise their hands and put on fresh gloves. The nurse prepares the necessary equipment on a tray and wheels it over to Nick. As Zoe has already been sedated, they don't have to do it again and can just begin.  
>"Okay, I'm making my incision." Says Nick. He makes a small cut in Zoe's head with a scalpel. "Rip spreaders." A nurse hands him a weird, scary piece of equipment. It looks a bit like pliers that have small, thin, metal panels on the end. Nick puts the two panels into the cut and, gently, pulls the handles apart, this widens the cut and exposes Zoe's skull. The next piece of equipment is even scarier, it is a large, hand held, manual, drill. Nick puts the end on to Zoe's skull and turns the handle. After a short while, the drill has gone through and, immediately, Zoe's skull is drained with a suction device and packed for a short time. I feel sick, so I leave resus and sit on one of the vinyl chairs outside. I decide to stay there until Zoe's head is back in tact again.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

It's been about twenty five minutes since I witnessed Zoe's head being operated on. Nick comes out of resus. He has taken off all of the blood-covered scrubs, gloves and bandanna.  
>"Amy, are you all right?"<br>"Yes, I'm sorry. I just couldn't... She was... I couldn't ."  
>"I know, it's damn hard to see her like that."<br>"Yeah."  
>"You can come back in now, there's no more blood. She looks normal again, except for all of the tubes, and her wounds, which, I'm in the process of stitching."<br>"Okay." I follow him back into resus and stand next to Zoe's bed again. I take hold of her hand again and bend down and kiss her forehead.  
>"Amy?"<br>"Yes?"  
>"I'd like to ask you something."<br>"Okay."  
>"I would like to make you a part of our family, for real. We would have done it yesterday but I wanted to see how things would go first. I want to know what you'd think of us adopting you. In such a short time, Zoe's been lit up by your presence in our lives, and you seem extremely happy to be here. So, I'd like to make you our daughter, what do you think?" I start to cry and can't speak so I just nod, let go of Zoe's hand, throw my arms around Nick and sob into his chest.<br>"I'll take that as a yes. You know, you really don't know how happy you've made her. She has always wanted a child, anything that makes Zoe happy makes me elated, so I'd like to thank you for changing her like that, I didn't think it was possible to make someone change so much in 24 hours, but you've managed to do it to Zoe. Also, thank you so much for having the sense to call me this morning, I don't like to think what would've happened if you hadn't. I'm proud of you." No one has ever said this to me in my entire life.  
>"That's okay. Thank you. Thank you so much for everything." I let him go and turn back to Zoe.<br>"When will she wake up?"  
>"A couple of hours. Will you let them treat you whilst we're waiting?" He says as he threads a stitch into the gash on Zoe's cheek.<br>"No. Zoe needs as much of the hospital's attention as possible, no one's getting near me until I know she's safe. I don't care if I start to feel these wounds. I don't care."  
>"But that could be ages sweetheart, I'd feel better if you'd just let them treat you."<br>"I'm sorry, but no, not until I know Zoe's safe."  
>"Okay, but let me know if you start to feel pain, I can at least give you some more adrenaline. You do know, them treating you doesn't reduce any of the attention Zoe receives."<br>"Yeah, I know, but still."  
>"Okay." He returns to stitching Zoe's face. I sit quietly and stare at Zoe, please God let her come out of this okay! I can't believe how mad this all is, one minute she's happily driving off to another day in the ED, and the next minute she's brought in as a patient, requiring urgent medical attention.<br>"This isn't right. It just isn't right." I say.  
>"I know, trust me."<br>"But she's so... good. All of the time! How could something like this happen to someone like Zoe! She's a doctor for crying out loud! Spends her life saving others' and this is what she gets as a payment? Can that even be justified?"  
>"No, it can't." Nick says, quietly.<br>"I'll be back in a minute."  
>"Where are you going?" He asks.<br>"I just need some air, keep fixing Zoe, I'll be back in a minute." He nods and I walk out. I stop outside the door and take a deep breath before walking to reception.  
>"Can you tell me where the other driver is?"<br>"Excuse me? I don't know what you're talking about mate." Says the receptionist.  
>"Sorry, I'm Zoe Jordan's foster kid, can you please tell me where the man who hit her is being treated?"<br>"We're not allowed, you aren't family. Patient confidentiality, sorry." He says and I walk away. I'll find him myself. He's not in resus, so I think I'll try cubicles. I go back through the same old double doors and head for cubicles. I pull open the first curtain, it's not him.  
>"Sorry." I stammer and go out, he's not in the next one either. I draw back the curtain in the third cubicle. It's a man, that's a start.<br>"Have you just been in a car accident?" I ask.  
>"What's it to you?" He asks, aggressively.<br>"I need to know, matter of life or death kind of thing."  
>"Well, even if I have, it's none o' your business."<br>"I'll take that as a 'yes, I have just been in a car accident' and as for it being none of my business, IT WAS MY CAR YOU HIT! MY MUM WHO'S LYING IN A BED, UNCONSCIOUS, UNABLE TO BREATH BY HERSELF. OH, AND LETS NOT MENTION THE FACT THAT SHE'S HAD TO BE JUMP STARTED AND HAVE BRAIN SURGERY IN THE LAST HOU-"  
>"Wow, wow, wow, wow, stop the shouting!" Cries a near by nurse. "This is a hospital, not a zoo! Who are you any way?"<br>"Zoe Jordan's foster kid, soon to be daughter." I burst out into tears.  
>"Okay, I'm so sorry about what's happened, but you can't yell at other patients like that. Okay, why don't you head back to resus?"<br>"Yeah, that's where I'm going." I turn and head back to resus.

"Amy, what's wrong?" Nick asks as I walk in the door.  
>"What's right!"<br>"I know, sweetheart, I know."  
>"If I could wave a magic wand and fix this, I wouldn't hesitate for a second."<br>"Neither would I."  
>"Have you finished stitching those gashes? Did you get out all of the glass?"<br>"Yes, there was... So much... It doesn't even bare thinking about."  
>"Why couldn't this have happened to somebody else? Why Zoe?"<br>"I don't know."


	13. Chapter 13

It's almost four thirty, I'm sitting by Zoe's bedside, holding her hand and praying that she'll wake up soon. I can feel everything now, my leg is killing me, the big piece of metal is still stuck in there, but I still don't dare let them treat me. I'm not leaving Zoe until she's awake and that means no one is treating me yet. We're in CDU now, that's the Clinical Decisions Unit in the ED. they need the beds in resus and Nick refuses to let them take Zoe upstairs, he wants to keep a close eye on her, but the ED is short staffed today and he can't take time off, so he won't let Zoe go anywhere because he can't go with her. He was reluctant to even put her in CDU.  
>"Come on Zoe, wake up! Nick's beside himself! Please, please wake up, sooner, rather than later!" I let go of her hand, I've been needing the toilet for over an hour and I'm thirsty now too. I bend down and kiss Zoe's forehead.<br>"I'll be back in two seconds, I promise." I turn to the nurse. "Please, please, watch her like a hawk!" I say and then get up to go and find the toilet. I make it just over half way to the door when I hear coughing behind me and a nurse desperately trying to calm a very frightened Zoe down. I bolt to her bedside.  
>"Zoe, Zoe it's me! Stay still, we've got to get the tubes out, Zoe! Stay still!" She Calms down a bit and the nurse, carefully, removes the tubes from her throat.<br>"Get Nick!" I scream at the nurse.  
>"Yep!" She says and runs to find him.<br>"Hey you! You gave us all a right fright, you did!" I say and smile at her.  
>"Wha- what's going on?"<br>"You're in hospital, car accident, I'll let Nick explain." I start crying again.  
>"Zoe!" I turn around to find Nick running towards us. Zoe tries to sit up.<br>"Oh no you don't, lie back down." Says Nick.  
>"I'm so, sorry." She stammers.<br>"Don't be. None of this is your fault."  
>"It is! Amy said it was a car accident. I must have been the one driving!"<br>"The other car ran into you."  
>"Oh."<br>"Yes, you're completely fine." He bends down and kisses her, I walk away. Nick and Zoe need to be alone, he's been through hell, she's been through the wars, they need a moment. I go stand at the wall across from them.  
>"Nick, tell me everything that's happened."<br>"Okay, but, it's been quite intense, and you've had a massive trauma. I'm worried it'll worsen your condition, stress isn't good for you just now."  
>"Start to finish." She demands.<br>"Okay, he hit you side on, the car rolled. You were dragged out. Bumped your head pretty badly and also, your breathing was compromised. Upon arrival, you arrested and... And you were jump started," He stammers a little, "then... Then the CT confirmed a bleed, which I took care of-"  
>"I've had surgery?"<br>"Yes. Do you need me to stop, this is too much to tell you. You've only just woken up!"  
>"No, tell me." She says slowly.<br>"Well, the surgery was successful, I removed loads of glass and did all of your stitches and you've been unconscious all day."  
>"Oh. Wait, who pulled me out of the car?"<br>"Amy did." He realises I'm not standing beside him anymore. "Amy?"  
>"Yeah?" I say.<br>"Oh, there you are. Yes, Amy pulled you out, good job too, the car caught fire quite quickly." Zoe looks over at me then.  
>"Nick! Why is she still bleeding! How could you let her stay in pain?! Sort it Nick!'"<br>"Oh, that's not his fault." I say, saving Nick from Zoe's death stare. "I refused treatment."  
>"Why?" She asks.<br>"Because I needed them to put all of their concentration into you," I start to cry, again. "Because you mean everything to me, mum."  
>"What did you say?" She asks, quietly.<br>"I said, I needed them to make sure you were okay first, mum." A tear rolls down her cheek.  
>"Oh Amy!" I run over and, as gently as I can, I hug her. "You're so gorgeous but you're a goose! You need treated, aren't you in pain, have you had anything for the pain?"<br>"No. I didn't tell them when it started to get sore."  
>"Oh Amy, Nick, get her some pain relief."<br>"On it!" He says.  
>"Will you do it?" I ask her.<br>"Amy, it would be illegal, I couldn't possibly treat you like this. I'd make a mistake for sure." She says.  
>"I don't care, please, can you please do it? I don't want anybody else. Its not like I'm going to sue you if you make a wee mistake. Nick will be here, he'll make sure it's okay, he'll help. Please?" She looks at Nick, he shakes his head.<br>"Amy it's too risky, I'm in no state to treat. Nick will though."  
>"Okay. But can we at least do it here? I don't want to go anywhere, that's the thing."<br>"Most of it, however, we need to X-ray that leg, so..."  
>"Can't you just use the portable one? The ED does have an x-ray machine?"<br>"Yes, I suppose. I'll call radiology and see what I can do. Back in a minute." He squeezes Zoe's hand and then goes off to call them.  
>"I was really worried about you."<br>"I know baby, I'm sorry."  
>"Don't apologise, it isn't your fault."<br>"Come here." I sit up next to her on the bed and give her a hug. She holds me tight and I go to pieces all over again.  
>"Baby what's the matter?" She asks, worried.<br>"Nothing, I just cannot fathom this out. Any of it. You're the nicest person I have ever known. This shouldn't be happening."  
>"That's sweet but, what happens to us, our 'fate' if you go for that sort of thing, isn't determined by how good we are as people."<br>"I know, but still. You know, in less than twenty four hours, you have changed my entire life. I love you. I hope you don't mind me calling you mum now, because, in my eyes, that's who you are. I love you."  
>"Of course I don't mind, Amy, I want nothing more than to be your mum."<br>"Well, that's good because Nick asked me what I'd think about you guys adopting me."  
>"Oh did he now? What did you say?"<br>"I would love that more than anything in the whole world!" Nick comes back in then.  
>"The radiologist is on her way down. They're going to do it here because it was us."<br>"That was rather sweet of them."  
>"Well, people do tend to be sweet to the clinical lead and his wife."<br>"Good point."  
>"She'll be down any minute, Amy, have the painkillers kicked in yet?" Nick asks me.<br>"No."  
>"Okay, I'll give you a bit of morphine, that should do the trick."<br>"Okay." He goes off to get the morphine.  
>"How, are you doing?" I ask Zoe.<br>"I'm all right, my lovely, I promise." Nick comes back.  
>"Okay Amy, sharp scratch." I wince a little as he administers the morphine but its okay. The radiologist comes in the door then with the portable x-ray machine.<br>"Mr. Jordan, I hope you remain aware that this machine is supposed to be for extreme cases, such as for a patient who's been impaled on a pole or other injuries along those lines, not minor things like this, just remember that."  
>"I will, Lucy, trust me." She hands out lead vests and I am laid on the bed next to Zoe's. It's a bit like taking regular pictures, she just uses a really big camera.<br>"Okay, thanks." Nick says. The radiologist leaves, Nick has the x-rays on one of those funny, electronic things.  
>"Excellent." He says, in an extremely worried tone.<br>"Let me see." Says Zoe, taking the x-rays. "Oh no."  
>"My sentiments exactly."<br>"What is it? What's wrong?" I ask.  
>"Well, that piece of metal in your leg is less than a millimetre away from puncturing your femoral artery."<br>"Which means...?"  
>"If we want to have any chance of getting it out without you bleeding out, it needs to be done surgically." Says Zoe<br>"Yes, I will do it." Nick says and I smile.  
>"Good, at least It's going to be you." I sit back and relax, then, quite abruptly, I realise something is wrong. Something doesn't feel right. It could just be from the way I'm slouching though. I move to a better position. Nope. Something is definitely wrong.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

"Um, mum?"  
>"Yes sweetheart?" She says, sounding worried.<br>"Something hurts."  
>"What is it?"<br>"My chest. It's getting tighter and sorer by the second, ow. Okay. I don't like this!"  
>"Nick!"<br>"Yeah. I'm looking!" It's not enough, I moan in pain. My chest is really sore, I'm near screaming in agony. I can't work out what brought this on!  
>"Amy, have you got any allergies, problems, medical things I should know about?"<br>"I wouldn't know even if I did Nick! Please, help, it's, argh! It's getting worse!"  
>"Get her hooked up Nick!" Zoe screams<br>"I am!" He starts attaching me to the monitor. "Oh God."  
>"What, what is it!" Cries Zoe.<br>"Her pulse just sky rocketed!"  
>"I'm gonna be sick!" Nick hands me a cardboard bed-pan just in time.<br>"What's causing this?" It's starting to get hard to breath. I'm practically panting but I feel like I'm getting no where.  
>"Get and oxygen mask on her!" Nick shouts at the nurse.<br>"Yep!"  
>"Mum I feel... really dizzy..."<br>"But you haven't had anything! Only the... Nick! She has to be allergic to morphine! She's showing all of the symptoms!"  
>"Okay, we have to act quickly, now!" Nick screams. Before I know it, I'm being given steroids and more adrenaline. The chest pain dies down and, after about half an hour, Nick confirms that,<br>"Pulse is returning to normal."  
>"Well, as if we hadn't had enough drama for one day!" Zoe says, smiling at me.<br>"Yes, okay, I'm going to call Adam in here to help with this leg."  
>"Get an ultrasound too." Zoe says.<br>"Yep." Nick walks out, I turn back to Zoe.  
>"Why do I need an ultrasound?" I ask her.<br>"So they can see what they're doing and lower their chances of accidentally clipping that artery."  
>"Okay. What happens if they do clip it?"<br>"Well, blood pressure in the arteries is high, the femoral artery has very high blood pressure. You'd bleed out, fast. They'd have to clip and tie off the artery off in a matter of seconds. Relax, Nick knows what he's doing, surgery is his speciality. I promise."  
>"Yeah." I feel rather sick, but it's okay because at least Zoe and Nick will be there. Nick and Adam walk in the door, Adam has an ultrasound with him. Behind them are two nurses, they immediately go and prepare the necessary equipment.<br>"Okay, Amy, we're going to put you under now."  
>"Okay." I look at Zoe.<br>"Relax, you're fine." I nod.


	15. Chapter 15

I peel my eyes open, slowly, and find myself staring at the ceiling.  
>"Hey, it's about time you woke up." Zoe says, I look across at her and smile.<br>"Yeah, wouldn't want to... steal your thunder, eh?" I say, sarcastically and she laughs.  
>"No, we couldn't have that."<br>"Did they, um, did they get it without clipping that vein thing?"  
>"Artery dear, and yes, they did. I told you you'd be fine."<br>"I know. Where's Nick now?"  
>"Back running about the ED like maniac. It's a good thing we're in here, it's hectic out there."<br>"Why?"  
>"St. Augustine's aren't taking GP referrals and we've been labelled the hospital accepting casualty's from the building site that's about two streets away from here."<br>"What happened?"  
>"One of the poles collapsed at the bottom of one of their scaffolding structures and the whole thing came down, workers and all. Doesn't sound pretty. Nick's going completely nuts."<br>"Yeah, sounds pretty bad.."  
>"Yeah."<br>"Mum, can I ask you something?"  
>"Yeah sure, baby, what's up?"<br>"What made you care? Any other doctor would have sent me straight back to that prison, despite the fact that they knew what punishments would follow. You were different though, didn't send me back, obviously. I'm a real burden, I know that, but you don't seem to care about that. I just wondered, why?"  
>"Okay, first things first, you're not a burden. Secondly, I know what you're going through. I know what it's like to suddenly be packed off and shoved in an orphanage. My parents died when I was eleven. So, yes, our situations are different, but I do get the gist of things, you know. I couldn't bare to send you home, knowing exactly what you were going through, the mental strains, the homesickness and, just to add insult to injury, the sore hands and no mother to clean them and change the dressings when they needed it. Instead you'd have had them ignored by an angry matron and probably have ended up with an infection. I couldn't bare to see that happen to you, especially not since you took to me straight away! Me, the adult. The enemy!" She smiles warmly at me.<br>"Thanks mum."  
>"You're welcome." I lift the blanket off of me and step down off of the bed. "Amy what are you doing, you might burst those stitches! Sweetheart, just lie down again, slowly." I don't, I grab hold of the pole holding the saline and walk over to Zoe's bed.<br>"Maybe you understand me, but you don't understand how much I love you and how grateful I am for everything you've done for me!" I hug her, tight.  
>"I love you too." She hugs me back and I hear her start to cry.<br>"What's wrong?" I ask, over her shoulder.  
>"Nothing, I'm just happy, sweetheart." She pulls me up so that I'm sitting next to her. I kick my feet up onto the bed too and lie down. Zoe strokes my hair gently and, happily, I fall asleep there beside her.<p> 


	16. Chapter 17

_"No! Zoe! Wake up! No! Stop it! Stop all the bleeding! Fix it! FIX HER!"_  
>I wake up suddenly, screaming and crying. I am drenched in sweat and am lying in an awkward position on the floor, my back arched, my head throbbing and resting on the bedside cabinet. Hard. Zoe comes running into my room. She must have heard all of the commotion.<br>"Amy, sweetheart!" She cries, running to my side to help me up. I get a shooting pain in my head then and lift my hand up to it.  
>"Ow." I whimper.<br>"Here, gosh, you must of bumped that hard. Come on downstairs and I'll ice it. That's going to have a nasty bruise." She whispers, affectionately. "Follow me." She says. So I do, still crying, I take her hand and she leads me down the stairs and into the kitchen. She crosses to the freezer and takes out an ice pack, wraps it in a tea towel and hands it to me.  
>"Hold that on it, I'll get you some painkillers." I put it on my head, which is now throbbing uncontrollably, as Zoe takes down the medical supplies. She hands me a glass of water and two paracetamol. I take them, gratefully.<br>"Thanks." I whimper.  
>"You dreamt of the accident again. Didn't you?" She says, knowledgeably. I just nod, not really wanting to think about it.<br>"You have to stop thinking about that. It's all over and we're fine. It's been over a fortnight, look at us, totally fine." I nod again. "Come here." She says, affectionately, pulling me in for a hug. I hug her back. "Right." She says. "Lets have a look at that head." I pull the ice pack off and wince as the release of pressure makes it hurt even more. Zoe gasps and I run over to the sink just in time to throw up.  
>"Sorry." I whimper.<br>"Don't worry. I'm calling Nick. I need to get you in." I nod as she pulls out her phone.  
>"Nick? It's me."<br>"Hi. What's up?"  
>"Amy's fallen out of the bed. Bumped her head quite badly. Her temperatures up a little and she just threw up in the sink. I'm gonna bring her in, okay?"<br>"Yeah, please do. Be careful though, phone a taxi. I don't want you driving at this time in the morning."  
>"Okay. See you when we get in. Love you."<br>"Yeah, love you too."  
>She hangs up and looks at me. Right, I'll go throw on some clothes, don't you worry about that though. I'll phone a taxi once I've finished and then we'll go." I nod and she heads up stairs. I walk, slowly, to the table and sit down again, putting the ice pack back on my head. Zoe barely takes five minutes upstairs, and when she comes back down, there's a knock on the door.<br>"Taxi's here." She says. She puts her arm under mine, helps me out to the taxi and then locks the door before getting in herself.  
>"Holby City emergency department, please." She says. The driver nods and sets off. We're there in minutes. Zoe helps me in the door then beckons Big Mac over.<br>"Can you get her a wheel chair please."  
>"Sure thing Doc." He says before getting one and bringing it over for us. Zoe helps me into it and then wheels me to cubicles.<br>"Tess?" She says. One of the nurses turns around. "This is Amy. She's had a bad fall. Which cubicle and can you asses her?"  
>"Is she next on the list?" Tess asks, confused as to where I, the new patient, had come from.<br>"No, but she's my daughter and it's a head injury, can you please asses her?" Zoe says, not harshly, but it gets the message across.  
>"Sure. Cubicle one is free. I'll look her over, you go sign her in." Zoe nods but I don't want her to leave me. I grab her hand.<br>"Amy, it's okay. I'll be back in two seconds. I have to tell Nick you're in too. He'll want to look at it. You can relax you know, you're in safe hands with Tess, promise." She smiles. I smile half heartedly to say thank you and let go of her hand. Before she goes, she looks right into my eyes and I know she understands.  
>"Right," says the nurse. "Lets get you on to the bed." I take the ice pack off so that I can use my hands to climb up. The release of pressure makes me feel really sick again. I feel really dizzy, look up to the ceiling and then everything goes black.<p>

"Amy? Amy wake up! Squeeze my hand if you can hear me?" It's Zoe. I can hear the worry in her voice. I can't open my eyes so I try with all of my might to squeeze her hand.  
>"Oh thank God! Good girl!" She says. It takes me ages, but I slowly peel my eyes apart and look up at her. She's blurry but she comes into focus gradually.<br>"Hey!" She says. "You okay? Gave us all a fright." She's smiling, but there are tears in her eyes still and wet trails on her cheeks from the ones that have fallen.  
>"S-sorry. Didn't mean it."<br>"Sh, don't worry. It's not your fault." She says soothingly. I hear Nick's voice then.  
>"Right, she's definitely concussed from the fall earlier. The swelling has gone down considerably though. The only thing that's worrying me is her blood pressure, it's way too high Zoe."<br>"I know." She says, wiping away another tear. "It's probably the shock though. She did just pass out..."  
>"Yeah, you're probably right. Hey Amy, feeling any better?"<br>"Not entirely." I say. "My head is still pounding and I feel sick." He nods.  
>"Okay. Zoe, has she had any pain killers?" He asks.<br>"She had two paracetamol before we left. She did vomit though... Two seconds after I gave it to her."  
>"Okay. Can we give her some nurofen please?" Nick says to the nurse. "That should take away the nausea and reduce the pain in your head." The nurofen does help, a lot. I feel loads better.<br>"Mum, when can we go home?" I ask.  
>"Not tonight I'm afraid. You need close monitoring and they'll keep you in for obs." I sigh then I wince, regretting both actions completely as they both sent shooting pains through my head. Tess comes in then.<br>"CT can take her now." They all decide to wheel me up to CT. it's so embarrassing being laid on a bed and wheeled around in front of everyone with a mob of worried doctors and nurses trailing behind you. CT is only two floors up. The elevator doors open and they take me in. It hurts being put onto the CT bed, any moving hurts. Once they've all got me in the right position, they all start to walk out. I don't like the idea of being in here all alone. I start to cry again, Zoe clocks it.  
>"Amy, it's fine. You're fine, in two seconds you'll be able to see us through that glass, like when you watched them do it to me. Remember?"<br>"Yes..." I say shakily.  
>"You'll be fine. She walks out of the room. The bed starts to move and I'm lying partially in the tube thing. I don't like it. I'm claustrophobic and this is so not my cup of tea. The tears start to fall faster, again. I feel sick. Like the tube is closing in and I can't breathe. It's horrible, I'm panting but I'm not getting enough oxygen. It's making me even more frightened. Suddenly, the doors open and Zoe comes running in.<br>"Get her out!" She shouts. Nick hits the button and I move out of the machine. Zoe's sitting next to me in an instant. "Breathe, Amy, breathe. Try to slow it down. It's all right, you are completely fine. Sh, I'm here darling, slow down. Take deep breaths." I do everything I can to do what she's saying, I know she's right and I relax a bit now that she's here.  
>"I'm s-sorry. I c-can't do it mum! I can't go back in that thing!" I wail she helps me sit up and folds me in an embrace. I calm down even more.<br>"Don't worry. I promise you can do it. You can sweetie." She croons, but it's not convincing me anymore.  
>"N-no! I can't! Mum I really can't!" I sob into her chest. Her top is getting soaked by my tears. She turns around and beckons Michael into the room. He listens.<br>"Get me a lead vest. I'm staying here."  
>"Zoe..." He says, worriedly.<br>"Just do it, she can hardly do this by herself, look at the state she's in." He nods curtly and leaves the room, returning not moments later with the requested vest. She puts it on and thanks him.  
>"Okay sweetie, they're gonna put you back in now. I'm not going anywhere. I've got you and you're safe okay." She says.<br>"Okay." I mumble back, I feel better with her here but it doesn't mean I'm any less claustrophobic. The machine beeps and I'm moved back in. Zoe squeezes my hand, catching a few more tears escaping my eyes. Once I'm in, I squeeze my eyes tight shut, it helps a little if I can't see the small space I'm in.  
>"Good girl. It'll be over soon, I promise." She says. I really hope she isn't lying. After a few minutes it stops and I'm slowly moved back out of the machine.<br>"Well done baby girl!" Zoe says, kissing my forehead. I smile weakly. It hurts as they put me back on to the bed, to take me downstairs, but that pain subsides when they stop moving me. Before too long we're back down in the ED and Nick and Zoe are looking at the scan carefully.  
>"It's clear." Zoe says at last. "You just passed out as a result of concussion, thank God." Nick comes over to me and I smile at him.<br>"Try and sleep it off okay. You'll feel better after you've rested."


	17. Chapter 18

I open my eyes slowly to find myself, once more, staring up at the pristine white ceiling in cubicles. I turn my head to find Zoe sitting next to me, smiling at me.  
>"You know," I say. "I'm starting to get fed up waking up in here." Zoe laughs at my sarcasm.<br>"Don't worry about it. You slept through the night, we're free to leave, they're all happy with your progress. Nick and I have the day off to look after you too." She says, happily. I smile.  
>"Great. Can we go home now then?"<br>"Yes. You're probably starving too. Do you want to stop of for breakfast on the way?" She asks.  
>"Yes please. Thanks." I sit up slowly and rub my eyes. "God, I must look a sight for sore eyes." I say.<br>"Nothing of the sort." Zoe replies, smiling. I smile back at her.  
>"Thanks." She helps me off of the bed and over to Nick.<br>"Ready?" He asks, hopefully.  
>"Yes."<br>"Great." He replies.  
>"By the way, we're stopping for breakfast en route." Zoe says.<br>"Excellent. I'm starving." He informs us.  
>"Excellent." Zoe takes my hand and the three of us head out of the ED and over to the car.<br>"Nick, I'm gonna sit in the back with Amy, just in case." Zoe says as Nick opens the car.  
>"Okay." He says, nodding. We all get into the car and Nick drives off. A few moments later, we pull up outside a very cosy little cafe called "Marge's Coffee House".<br>"I love this place!" Zoe exclaims.  
>"Yes, I know." Nick replies, smiling. We all get out of the car and head in to the caffe. Zoe and I sit down whilst Nick goes and orders for us.<br>"We need to find you a school soon." Zoe thinks out loud. I knew it was coming, and I know she is right. Summer break will be over next week.  
>"I know." I agree. Nick comes over and hands us our meals, coffees and teas.<br>"Enjoy." Everyone gets stuck in. This has got to be the best tea I've ever drank. It's burning my tongue a bit but I don't even care, it's amazing!  
>"Thanks guys, this is really good!" I say. Zoe smiles at me, Nick chuckles at my enthusiasm.<br>"You're very welcome." He says. We finish up quite quickly and head home. As we walk in the door, Zoe turns to me.  
>"Go and grab the laptop dear, lets get you a school." She says.<br>"Okay, thanks mum." I say and run up the stairs, two at a time as usual.  
>"Amy be careful!" Nick shouts and I slow down.<br>"Sorry." I shout back and continue up the stairs, slower this time. The lap top is on my bed, I grab it and take it back to Zoe.  
>"There two schools near here. Holby Senior High and St Barbara's. Are you religious at all?" She asks, I shake my head.<br>"No way."  
>"Okay. Holby Senior High it is. Come and have a look." She loads up their web page and the two of us browse for a while.<br>"Shall I phone them?" She asks.  
>"Yes please." I reply.<br>"Okay." She takes out her phone and punches in the number from the web page.  
>"Hello, this is Joanne Wilson, Holby Senior High. How may I help you?"<br>"Hi there, Zoe Jordan here. I wanted to know if I could enrol my daughter?" They talk for a while and then Zoe hangs up and turns to me.  
>"They want us in for an interview." She says.<br>"When?"  
>"In an hour." I freeze.<br>"Wow, that fast?"  
>"Yep. You'd better go and change. I'm certainly going to. Put on something nice." She says. I nod and run back up the stairs. After raiding my wardrobe for a while, I settle on a grey, tartan skirt and a black T-shirt with a black cardigan. I then, reluctantly, put on my grey ankle boots. Thank goodness they're only wedges, however they are still difficult. After a few paces up and down my bedroom, I feel like I've gotten the hang of it. I walk back down the stairs and meet Zoe in the living room. She looks really posh now. Like a Doctor! I laugh.<br>"What?" She asks, smiling.  
>"You just look really professional, really doctor-like." I say, still giggling. She laughs too.<br>"You look nice. Okay. We have twenty minutes. I'll just finish my coffee and then we'll go." She says, gulps down the last few mouthfuls and grabs her car keys. "Right. We're off. Nick!" She shouts. He joins us. He has only changed his tie, seeing as his Armani suit was already formal enough. We all traipse out to the car. Nick drives. The school is only ten minutes away, we're there in no time. Once we've parked, I take hold of Zoe's hand, she squeezes it and leads me to the office.  
>"Hi there," Zoe says to the receptionist. "Zoe Jordan. I have an appointment with, Mrs. Mathison in," she checks her watch. "Five minutes." She smiles at the receptionist.<br>"Yes, that's all right here. Please take a seat, she'll be with you shortly." Zoe nods and leads me over to the waiting area. Nick follows. I feel a bit sick, nerves I suppose. Zoe must be able to sense it. She's eyeing me.  
>"Relax Amy, you're fine." I nod and plaster on a fake smile. It satisfies her, thank goodness. Unfortunately, Nick, who is able to read me like a book, sees straight through it.<br>"Amy," He says. "Relax, you're not being taken in there to be persecuted, it's just an interview, calm down." I smile at him too. "I mean it." He says, softly.  
>"Thanks."<br>"Mr. and Mrs. Lewis?" The principal calls. They stand and shake her hand. She turns to me.  
>"And you must be Amy?"<br>"Yes. Nice to meet you." I say.  
>"Same to you dear. You have lovely manners, your parents have done well." She smiles and glances at Michael and Zoe. Funnily enough, no one corrects her assumption.<br>"Lets go in then." She beckons us into her office and offers the two chairs in front of her desk. Nick and Zoe sit down. I begin to hover awkwardly between them but Nick, knowing how nervous I am, tells me to sit on his lap. I sit down and he wraps a loving arm around me. I relax a lot with the sense of security Nick is always providing. The head mistress sits down in front of us.  
>"Well, Amy dear, what was your last school?" I don't bother to mention Parkinson's home for Girls.<br>"Edinburgh Boarding School Miss."  
>"Wow, that's a good school. That explains your accent. I thought it was different to your parents'. How come you've come here?" She asks. I fidget a little before answering.<br>"Well, it's a very long story..." Zoe notices me struggling.  
>"Amy, it's all right, you can tell her what happened, we're right here." She says, smiling and putting a loving, nourishing hand on my shoulder. Nick also reassures me by tightening his grip on my waist. I take a deep breath and continue.<br>"My accent isn't different because I was sent to boarding school in Scotland. It's different because I am originally Scottish. Once I was old enough, my biological... Parents," I hiss the word. "Dumped me at that place. I never heard from them again. As you can imagine, I was... A bit, insecure. Then they forced me to make a box of child hood memories. A compulsory class assignment. They wouldn't listen when told them I didn't want to remember... Earlier on this year, I was expelled for burning that box in the school toilets. No damage was done to the school, I put it out once I was content with the damage to the box. It's just that another student saw the fire and told on me. I ended up in a home here in England. Parkinson's Home for Girls. I ran away, fell on some glass and ended up in the ED. Then Zoe and Nick adopted me. Problem is, I don't have a school yet..." There are tears in my eyes. Zoe wipes one off of my cheek. The head mistress smiles sympathetically.  
>"I see." She says. "Well, we need to do something about that don't we?" She says, still smiling.<br>"Our staff are only here, as you probably well know, because it is the last week of the school holidays. We resume on Monday, nine o'clock. Sharp. Why don't you buy yourself a uniform and show up then? Would you like that?" I gasp. I admit, I didn't expect her to like me let alone accept me!  
>"I would love that! Thank you so much!" I exclaim. She chuckles.<br>"You're very welcome my dear. If you and your parents would like to follow me, I will have Mrs Wilson print you off a timetable and then I'll introduce you to your new teachers." She says.  
>"Thank you so much!"<p> 


	18. Chapter 19

It's ten past eight. I'm currently dressed in my new school uniform and anticipating the day ahead as a new student at Holby Senior High. Mum's just putting on her shoes and then we're leaving. She comes down the stairs then.  
>"Right, you," She calls. "Lets head off."<br>"Okay. I grab my school bag and run to the front hall way to meet her.  
>"You look nice!" She says.<br>"Thanks. So do you." She laughs.  
>"Thank you honey." We traipse out to the car and she drives me to school. We arrive at about eight, twenty.<br>"You ready?" Zoe asks, as we exit the car.  
>"No not really." I say, shakily.<br>"Come on, you'll be fine." She says, locks the car and takes my hand. We walk through to reception, again. She squeezes my hand again for reassurance as we approach the desk. This time, no introductions are necessary.  
>"Ah, Mrs Lewis, good morning. Hello Amy." Says the receptionist.<br>"Hello." I manage.  
>"Good morning." Zoe says.<br>"I take it you're both wondering what happens now. Well, Mrs Mathison will come out shortly and take you to class, introduce you to the children and so on. Mrs. Jordan, you are free to leave if you want." She says.  
>"Okay." Zoe says and turns to me. "Will you be okay on your own?" I don't want her to worry about me all day, so I plaster on a smile and nod.<br>"I'll be completely fine." I say, with as much fake confidence as I can possibly muster.  
>"Okay then. Well, I'll pick you up at 3:15 then. Love you sweetie." She says and kisses my forehead.<br>"Love you too." I say and watch her leave the office.  
>"Well dear, school doesn't start for a while so you're free to head to the waiting area and wait there until it does." I nod.<br>"Thanks miss." I say and then go sit down as I'm told. I'm waiting for little over forty minutes, but it feels like hours. Mrs Mathison strides over to me in her professional, principal's stride.  
>"Are you ready then?" She asks, kindly.<br>"As I'll ever be." I say, cheerfully, when in actual fact, my insides are crumbling.  
>"Lets go then." Se turns and leads me to my first class. She knocks on the door and enters. "Good morning students." She says.<br>"Good Morning Mrs Mathison." The whole class chorus back to her.  
>"This is Amy, she will be joining you today. I trust that you will make her feel welcome and ensure she does not end up lost in the maze of corridors our school provides." The class chuckle. "Well, I'll leave you to it." She exits the class in her usual, brisk manor. I look up at the teacher.<br>"Good morning. I have made a spot for you next to Tessie. Please sit down." I look around the room. A girl waves at me, I can only assume this is Tessie. With a jolt of reassurance, I take a seat next to her and we begin the lesson.

I wait patiently by the gates outside of school. It's been a good day. I quickly made friends with Tessie and spent the rest of the day with her. As promised, she ensured I didn't get lost at any point during the day. I watch as Zoe's new Merc travels silently towards the school and pulls up in front of me. I open the passenger door and get in.  
>"Good day?" She asks.<br>"Yes. It was really great. So much better than all of my previous schools! And get this! I have friends!" She laughs.  
>"Wow! Sounds brilliant. Well sweetie, I haven't finished shift yet, neither has Nick, I'm on break just now. So you're going to have to wait in the staff room for a while, is that okay?" She asks, biting her lip.<br>"Of course it is! Oh Zoe, you shouldn't have wasted your break on me! I'd have been happy to walk! It's not that far!" I say.  
>"It is that far, and it is no trouble. I still have half an hour. Don't worry. Besides, Nick and I have a surprise waiting on you back in the staff room, we both want to show you. So I would have been taking my break now anyway darling." She says.<br>"Okay." We pull up outside the ED and go in. Zoe takes my hand and leads me to the staff room, Nick is already there waiting. He smiles at me. I run over and hug him. He holds me tight for a few seconds and then says,  
>"Come on you, we've got a rather big surprise for you!" I look up. Zoe speaks.<br>"When I first met you, one of the very first things you did was correct me when I used your old name. Nick and I have decided, as you hate it when people make that mistake, to correct it. We've got the forms here. All you need to do is sign them and then you can be Amy for ever." She says, smiling widely at me. I'm shocked.  
>"Really!" I exclaim<br>"Really." Nick says.  
>"Thank you so much! I mean it! Thank you!" I hug them both again.<br>"Come on then, here you are." She hands me the forms and a pen. I sign them  
>"All we need to do now is file them." Zoe says.<br>"You actually don't know how happy I am right now. Amy Jordan. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"  
>"It does. I like it!" Nick says.<br>"It's not just that, this is like the final step."  
>"To what?" Asks Zoe.<br>"We're a proper family now, for real. I mean, we were before, but I had a different name. Now I don't. It's for real now." I feel my eyes welling up again.  
>"Come here you!" Zoe says, pulling me in for a hug. The tears fall. I can't believe I'm so happy. It's crazy! I mean, I know doctors have to be caring, it's in their job description. But these two doctors have plucked my life out of a ditch and sat it on a ray of sunshine!<br>"Hey, don't cry!" Zoe whispers.  
>"I'm sorry, I'm just extremely happy, that's all." I say to her. Nick rubs my back reassuringly.<br>"You don't have to apologise." He says. "We know you're happy. We are too." I let go of Zoe.  
>"Thank you. Seriously. Thank you." I say. Dixie, one of the paramedics, comes into the staff room then.<br>"Hey you!" She says.  
>"Hey Dix!" I run up and hi five her. I've become quite close to a lot of the staff now. All the time spent in the staff room waiting in mum or Nick has seen to that.<br>"How are you?" She asks.  
>"Amazing! How are you?"<br>"I'm great, kiddo." She busies herself making tea.  
>"Well, we'd better get back to work Amy sweetheart. Just start your homework or something, we finish in a few hours." Zoe says. Her and Nick both kiss my forehead and leave the staff room.<br>"Started school today then?" Dixie asks me.  
>"Yeah. It was great. Except for home economics. I didn't mean it, but I burst out into tears in the middle of class. Then Mrs Jones, the teacher, made me tell her why. I poured out the whole story to her. She'd been talking about families you see. I shouldn't still get upset about it. I've got Mum and Nick now. But sometimes, I can't help it. It hurt, what they did to me. I'm just so damn grateful I met Mum and Nick. So grateful it's not even funny!" I say.<br>"I know kiddo. You know you can talk to me if you need to? Ever feel upset and don't want to talk to Zoe or Nick, I'm right here."  
>"Thanks Dixie. That means a lot. Especially seeing as, if I did tell them about being sad over my... you know's, I think it might upset them." I say.<br>"I see what you mean. What happened with this teacher then?" She asks.  
>"She took me to her office, it was lunch time. Made me a cup of tea. I spilled the whole story. We've ended up quite close. I'm sort of glad. I have someone I can confide in at school."<br>"Yes, that's good. Good on you." She says.  
>"Thanks."<br>"Anyways, I'd better get back. See you kiddo."  
>"See you." She leaves the room. I pull out my homework. For the first day back, this is a lot of work.<p> 


	19. Chapter 20

"Right, you ready sweetheart? Amy? Amy sweetie, wake up." I become gradually aware of someone nudging my shoulder and saying my name. I open my eyes and look up to find. Zoe and Nick smiling down at me.  
>"Homework that tiring, eh?" Nick says, smiling.<br>"Yeah, something like that!" I say, smiling back at him. He drives us all home and, once we arrive, I happily fall onto the sofa.  
>"Come on you," Zoe says. "Put the TV on and we can make a night of it." She turns it on and then sits next to me. I snuggle up to her and she wraps her arms around me. We watch TV like this for over an hour and then head upstairs to bed.<p>

The alarm buzzes. Unwillingly, I peel my eyes apart. I suddenly become aware of a persistent ache in my tongue. I head over to the mirror and open my mouth to examine it.  
>"Excellent." I say to myself, sarcastically. I sigh and head out to find Zoe. I find her in the kitchen.<br>"Mum?" I ask, tiredly.  
>"Yes sweetheart?"<br>"Can you take a look at my tongue?" I ask. I can't believe this is happening. Zoe and Nick didn't know about the piercing. I didn't really want them to find out either. Not much choice now.  
>"Sure... What's wrong with it?" She asks, understandably confused.<br>"I think it's infected..."  
>"Is it pierced?" She asks, shocked. I nod slowly. "Oh my." She says. She comes over and gently holds my chin while she examines the damage.<br>"Yep. It's infected. How long have you had it?"  
>"Three years."<br>"You mean to tell me you were twelve years old when you got your tongue pierced? No one in their right mind would pierce a twelve year old's tongue." She says, matter-of-factly.  
>"No one in their right mind did. I pierced it myself. And back then, I was as far from my 'right mind' as you could go."<br>"Oh Amy. I'll give you something to bring the swelling down. You'll have to suffer it for today and I'll fix it for you in the ED after school. Will that be okay?" She asks, worried.  
>"Sure. So long a I have some paracetamol near by, I'll live. Thanks Zoe."<br>"That's fine."

Zoe drops me off at school and heads off. I see Tessie waiting at the gate, so I head over to her.  
>"Your mum's car is wicked!" She exclaims.<br>"You like it? I love it! I can't even believe I'm allowed to ride in it!"  
>"I know. It's so... expensive!" She says.<br>"I know, and I'm so clumsy. Plus, that's her new one. The other one... It was a right off after... After..." A painful memory shoots through my mind. For a minute, my eyes glaze and my breathing quickens. The school disappears. I find myself staring at the beaten, bleeding, broken Zoe from the accident.  
>"Amy! Amy! Amy you're scaring me! Snap out of it!" She claps loudly in front of my face. With a jolt, I'm suddenly brought back to reality.<br>"Sorry." I utter. There's tears in my eyes and I'm hyperventilating. I concentrate on slowing down my breathing.  
>"Woah, girl! What was that all about...?" Tessie asks me, obviously quite worried about me after the panic attack.<br>"Zoe and I... A few weeks ago... We were in a bad accident. It was on the news, the Reed Street crash?" She nods.  
>"That was you?" She says, taken aback.<br>"Yes. I'm sorry. I just had a flash back. Hence the panic attack. I didn't mean to scare you."  
>"Don't apologise, it's not your fault! Gosh! I'd be a nervous wreck at the slightest mention of any car, let alone the very one the accident happened in!" She smiles. "You okay now?"<br>"Yes," I say. "Much, much better."  
>"Good because that's the bell." I hear it ringing.<br>"Sure is. Reggie and then...?" I ask, knowing she'll know immediately what we have first.  
>"Mathematics and history. Come on, we better head to registration. Don't want to annoy Mrs Jones second day back." She says.<br>"Good point." I say. We head to class.  
>The morning was dull and boring. Tessie is still leading me around. I can't seem to memorise the corridors at all! There's no way I'll ever know them like she does! Interval comes, I've never been as grateful for a break in all of my life! I'm sitting with Tessie in one of the corners. I bite into my Freddo and and then wince immediately.<br>"Ow!" I exclaim and spit it straight back out again.  
>"Wow, what's up?" Tessie asks.<br>"Sorry, it's just my tongue. It's infected." I say. She gasps.  
>"You have a pierced tongue? Wicked!" She says.<br>"No, not wicked. Painful! Mums going to fix it tonight. I'm going to take some paracetamol."  
>"Okay, but don't get caught. The teachers'll have your guts for garters if they catch you with any medicine they haven't been informed of." She explains.<br>"Okay, thanks hunny." I reply. I, quite inconspicuously, take the two pills from my bag and quickly swallow them down with my Capri-Son. The bell goes again so we head back to school. We have home economics, and we're late already. I take a deep breath outside the door and enter. My whole body fills with horror at the scene lying before me. Tessie gasps. The rest of the class is pushed back to one end of the classroom. At the other end. Mrs Jones is standing, in a headlock, crying hysterically, with a gun pointed to her head.


	20. Chapter 21

"Get with the others!" The gunman spits at us. Tessie runs to the designated area. I don't know what possesses me to do it, but I don't move. I remain rooted to the spot. My body is no longer following my commands. I feel like I'm on auto pilot. Then I speak.  
>"I will. But first, tell me why you're doing this?" I ask, as calmly as possible.<br>"It's none of your business! Get back with the others!"  
>"No, you don't get it. I hate her." I point to Mrs Jones. "I want to know why you do too." He falters for a minute. I can't move. Frozen with fear. He's considering things in his mind.<br>"She cheated on me." He says. "Now I'm gonna kill her!" She whimpers a little.  
>"Please! I'm sorry! I love you! I'm sorry! Please!" She cries.<br>"What a bitch. Cheating is horrible! I am so sorry she did that to you. But do you think death is punishment enough? Death is going to be easy! She'll feel nothing. No pain. No sorrow. No regret. Look at her. She already regrets it. She already wants you back because she knows what she's cost herself. She already hurts. If you kill her. That all goes away. Wouldn't it be more punishment to leave her alive and force her to deal with the pain of losing you as a result of her own selfish actions?" I say, strongly. Silence falls for a while.  
>"You know, I think you might be on to something." He says, finally.<br>"I'm an orphan. One of the angriest kids you'll ever meet. Violence, I'm good at it." I watch him grab her neck and push her to the side.  
>"Fine, but I'm not leaving without doing what I came here for!" He says, smiling maliciously. He raises the gun, and shoots at her arm. Obviously intending to hurt her but leave her alive. Problem is, he missed. Chaos erupts. The students begin screaming, I feel sick. There's blood everywhere. I slump back against the wall and slide to the floor. Suddenly, the police barge through the door and hand cuff him.<br>"Mr. Jones. You are under he arrest of the attempted murder of Mrs. Jones and the shooting of a student. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do or say now may be used against you later on in court." He is marched from the room. Mrs. Jones immediately runs to my side. So does Tessie.  
>"Put... Pressure... On... It." I say, gasping. Tessie does exactly that whilst Mrs. Jones phones an ambulance<br>"You were amazing!" Tessie says. "I'd never be able to be that brave! You were amazing. As soon as I realised what you were doing, I dialled nine, nine, nine." She says. I smile weakly. Minutes pass. They feel like hours. I'm starting to see what looks like glitter, floating around my head. It doesn't take a genius to know that this isn't a good sign. The class room door suddenly bursts open again. Dixie and Jeff come running in.  
>"Hey kiddo! What's happened!" Dixie shouts, realising the severity of the shout she's on.<br>"Long... Story... Can... You... Call... Mum... Please?" I beg, tears in my eyes.  
>"Sure thing kiddo." While she's doing that, Jeff hooks me up to the machine, puts a saline drip in my arm, spaces an oxygen mask on my face and moves Tessie's hands to examine the wound. I watch his face fall.<br>"What... Is... It?" I ask, crying harder.  
>"Nothing princess. Nothing for you to worry about at all. All you need to do is stay conscious my dear."<p> 


	21. Chapter 22

_**Zoe's POV**_

The ED is as busy as ever. Nick and I are run off of our feet. I finish discharging another patient from cubicles and head to the staff room for a quick drink of water before heading out again. I'm just taking out a glass when my phone rings  
>"Hello?" I say into it.<br>"Zoe? Hi. It's Dixie. There's been a shooting at Holby Senior High. I need a doctor down here. Can you please come? Er... Patient has asked for you personally." My heart hits the floor.  
>"It's... It's not. No... It couldn't be... Not... Is it Amy?"<br>"'Fraid so sweetheart." She says, as gently as she can manage.  
>"I'll be right there. Keep her conscious!"<br>"Will do. Bye." She hangs up the phone. I run out of the staff room and bolt to Nick's office like a bat out of hell, ignoring the stares from my confused colleagues.  
>"NICK!" I scream as I burst through his office door.<br>"What? What's wrong?" He asks, worry spreading over his face.  
>"It's Amy. She's been shot. Dixie needs a doctor. I'm going now! Prep paed's! She's going to need emergency surgery by the sounds of it!" He sways a little letting the news sink.<br>"You better get going." He throws me his keys and I bolt to the car. I'm probably getting a speeding fine, the way I'm driving. I do have the 'emergency doctor' sign on the back of my car, however, I haven't bothered with the over all's, we're supposed to wear. I pull up at the school, sling the medical pack over my shoulder and bolt into the office.  
>"Mrs Jordan?" Asks a surprised Mrs Mathison.<br>"Doctor Jordan." I correct her. She looks momentarily shocked, then accepts it and nods. "Just show me where my daughter is!" I snap at her. She does. We run down the corridors and burst into the room together. It's the smell of blood that hits me first. She's lost more than a litre by the looks of things. Jeff has his hands pressed firmly on her chest. That's... That's where her left ventricle would be.  
>"Has... Has it punctured the ventricle?" He just nods. My heart sinks even lower. I rush to her side.<br>"Sweetheart I'm here." I squeeze her hand. She smiles weakly at me. I proceed to check all of her vital signs and then check the wound itself.  
>"We need to close this now! We can't move her! It'll make it worse!"<br>"Can we operate here?" Jeff asks.  
>"Does it matter? We need to! Dixie, phone Nick. Have him on loud speaker please." She does. His voice fills the room moments later.<br>"Zoe, what's happening?" He asks, extremely worriedly.  
>"Nick. I can't move her, it's punctured the left ventricle. I have to get it out before we move her, a few more millimetres could cost her her life! Oh, and her breathing is compromised, I'm going to intubate."<br>"Just do it, I'll be there soon but start."  
>"Stay on the phone." I command.<br>"Don't worry." He says.  
>"Okay Dixie. I'm going to sedate and intubate her now." I start to do it.<br>"I can't get the tube in!" My eyes fill with tears. "Nick I can't do it!"  
>"You can. Zoe you've done this procedure a hundred times! You can do it. Just relax and try again." I listen to him. I get the tube in place successfully, with the aid of a bougie, and let out a long sigh of relief. "I take it that means you were successful?"<br>"Yes." I move to the medical supplies, gown up and shove on a face mask. I remove the rip spreaders and a scalpel from the bag. In order to see what I'm doing, I extend the wound with the scalpel and then open it with the rip spreaders. I place both tools down on the sterile tray Dixie has provided. The next step is to remove the bullet fragments. This is an extremely tricky process. My hand shakes as I lower the forceps into the wound and begin retrieving the bullet fragments.  
>"Okay. I think I got all of the fragments." I say, finally.<br>"Let me check." He bursts in the door to the class room and rushes over to us. He spends a few seconds examining my work.  
>"Well done doctor Jordan. Okay. We need to close this u..." He doesn't get a chance to finish his sentence when the monitor goes into a frenzy.<br>"Her heart's stopped! Nick do something!" I'd do it myself but its too much of a risk. He's calm and I'm hyperventilating. So he's doing it. He closes the hole in her ventricle, with expertise, in less than a minute.  
>"Okay. Starting cardiac massage!" He lowers his hand into her chest and begins. Dixie is doing all that she can to calm me down. It's not working. I'm not going to calm down until her heart beats by itself again. A few minutes pass. I'm crying hysterically on the floor. Suddenly, the machine starts to sound a normal rhythm. My head snaps up.<br>"Back in sinus rhythm." Nick announces.  
>"Any output?" I ask. He checks<br>"Steady pulse." He confirms. "Okay. Lets get this closed." It doesn't him take long to do. I let Nick do it. I couldn't. Quite abruptly, and for the first time throughout my entire medical career, a nausea washes over me. I run to the class room bin and throw up in it. Dixie hands me a tissue.  
>"Okay. Jeff, fetch us the trolly will you?" Nick asks the paramedic. He heads into the corridor and returns with the desired trolly. I watch them put her on it and wheel her out to the ambulance.<br>"Zoe, you go in the ambulance with her. You're not safe to drive just now." I nod, throw him back his keys and get into the ambulance with Dixie. Nick takes off at top speed and we reach the hospital in no time. Adam meets us at the entrance.  
>"Dr. Trueman this is Amy Jordan, aged 15 gun shot wound to the chest. GCS 5 at the scene, risen to 7 since. BP 70 over 60. Cardiac arrest at the scene, resolved with cardiac massage. Sedated, intubated and operated on at the scene. She's been given oxygen and saline throughout." Dixie tells him.<br>"Okay, straight to paed's resus." I follow them through. "Okay can someone get me an ultrasound, lets find out if any further surgery is required. I watch as he performs the ultrasound.  
>"Damn Zoe. You are some doctor! You got it all!" He says in disbelief. I half smile.<br>"Always the tone of surprise." I say sarcastically, even though I'm as far out of the mood, for joking and sarcasm, as it is possible for someone to be.  
>"Well, you did operate on a classroom floor. This is remarkable work. Well done." I smile again. "Well. It's all a waiting game now, we need her to wake up. Once she's awake, we can extubate. Then she can tell us if anything else is wrong. Like I said, waiting game." I nod.<br>"Thank you, Dr. Trueman. Thank you." I say. He nods, dismissing himself from the room. I go over and sit at her bedside.  
>"I'm so sorry Amy." I whisper. I sit there for a while, tears streaming my cheeks, and drift off into a disturbed sleep.<p>

I wake to a soft knock on the door.  
>"Er... Come in." I say. They enter. It's the teacher from yesterday.<br>"Hi. I'm Jennifer..." She says, awkwardly. "Amy's teacher." I nod.  
>"I know." I say, quite dismissively.<br>"I'm so sorry about what's happened..." I can hear the regret in her voice.  
>"I... It's okay." I manage. "What time is it?" I ask her, wondering how long I've been asleep.<br>"Nine thirty." She says.  
>"Geez, I must have been tired." I say. Then I start to think about it. In the past three days (if you don't count today) I've had little over 7 hours sleep. That explains it.<br>"That must happen a lot, you know, being a doctor and everything." She says, trying, and failing, to make small talk. I decide against making it worse.  
>"Yeah, it does. Some days I'll look at the clock and not have any idea wether its am or pm. other times I go through a whole week not knowing what the wether is like because I've come to work in the middle of the night and left in the middle of the next night. Doesn't bother me too much though. Well, I'd better go find my husband. Find out what's happening. See you in a minute."<br>"Bye." She says. I leave the room and head to Michael's office. I key in the door code and head in, only to discover him at his desk, head in his hands and fast asleep with more tear stains on his face than I have on mine, and that's saying something. I nudge him a little.  
>"Nick?" He opens his eyes and looks at me.<br>"Oh, hi. What time is it?"  
>"Nine thirty. Do you know when she'll be waking up?" I ask.<br>"Well, she wasn't too heavily sedated. Probably some time tomorrow, if the night goes well." I feel my shoulders drop.  
>"I actually can't believe this..." I say. "Why her? Why did he shoot her?"<br>"Actually, that part was an accident. The school gave me the tape. Come and have a look at this." I walk around to him and look at the computer screen. Shock surges through my body as I watch what Amy did to save her teacher.  
>"Jesus Christ." I say.<br>"My sentiments exactly." He replies.  
>"She did all of that to save a teacher?" I ask, completely and utterly gob-smacked after what I've just seen.<br>"Yeah, she did."  
>"She's nuts. A hero, but completely nuts."<br>"I know. Right you, dinner, come on." He says.  
>"I'm not hungry." I reply.<br>"No, you are going to eat. I'm not going to let you starve yourself Zoe. Dr. Trueman is watching her. You need to eat. You've eaten nothing all day, remember?"  
>"Yes, I suppose so. Lets go then. But nothing big, seriously, I couldn't stomach it.<br>"Okay." He says, walking me to the lift.  
>He leads me up to the hospital canteen and sits me at a table while he goes to get some food. Moments have barely passed when he comes back with two piping hot bowls of tomato soup.<br>"Perfect." I say, I smile at him, but it's half hearted.  
>"She'll be okay you know." He says, reading my mind.<br>"I know, but... Still."  
>"Strong girl that one. You saw what she did." He winks. I love it when he winks at me.<br>"Yeah, she is. I've never seen anyone be as brave! And she's just a kid!" I say.  
>"Precisely." He replies, smiling. I proceed to start my soup. It doesn't take long to finish.<br>"I'm going down to check on her." I say, as I drop my spoon back into my empty bowl.  
>"I'll come with you." Nick replies.<br>"Lets go then." He stands, takes my hand and leads me back to the lift. I can feel my tired legs shaking as we walk back to Amy's room. Dr. Trueman is there again. Something's going on.  
>"Adam! What is it? What's happening?" I shout at him.<br>"She's a fighter this one, she's breathing by herself." He says.  
>"So you're saying we can extubate?" I ask, not quite believing what I'm hearing.<br>"Yep. Nurse Clements, help me get these tubes out please?" He says to Kirsty.  
>"Thank you." I breathe.<br>"That's fine Zoe." He says. I stand and watch as he and the nurse carefully remove all of the tubes and then heave a massive sigh of relief as I listen to her breathing on her own.  
>"Zoe?" Nick says softly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "She's going to be fine. Calm down."<br>"What d'you mean? I am calm." I say, indignantly.  
>"No you're not." I suddenly become aware of more tears racing down my cheeks. I quickly wipe them away and apologise.<br>"Sorry." I mumble.  
>"Don't be sorry." He says in return, wrapping his arms around me and holding me in a loving, caring embrace. "Lets go get some sleep." He whispers in my ear.<br>"Okay. But only in the on call room. I'm not leaving the hospital." I say, stubbornly.  
>"I know sweetie. I know." He takes my hand and leads me upstairs to the on call room. Once we're there, I happily slide under the sheets and shut my eyes. I'm awake just long enough to feel Nick slide in behind me, put an arm around my waist and whisper,<br>"I love you." In my ear.


	22. Chapter 23

_**Amy's POV**_

My head is pounding. I slowly become aware of the noise coming from the bustling emergency department. I gradually regain control over my body, experimentally moving my feet and hands, bending my knees and elbows. After a while, I'm able to move my eyelids again. I open them slowly. Looking cautiously around the room, I discover the heart monitor, it's steady, rhythmic beeping, I find that I have an IV drip in my arm, my Mum's jacket is still on the chair and the light is brighter than ever. No one seems to be coming in my direction. I need to see my Mum, find out why I'm in here (again) and when I can get out. Carefully, and slowly, I remove Mum's mobile from her jacket pocket, silently over joyed that it is there. I speed dial Michael immediately.  
>"Hello?" Comes his voice, groggy and tired, down the phone.<br>"N-nick. It's Amy. Where are you?"  
>"Amy! You're awake! We'll be right down! Stay awake for me okay!"<br>"Yes." The phone clicks as he hangs up. Moments later, both him and Mum come running into my room.  
>"Amy!" Mum cries and rushes to my side. Immediately, I hug her, but extremely gently because my chest is killing me.<br>"Hi." I mumble.  
>"Hello baby girl." She says, softly.<br>"I'm so sorry." I blurt out and burst into tears. She holds me tighter.  
>"It's okay." She says and lets me go.<br>"Hi." I say again, this time directed at Nick.  
>"Hello Amy darling, how are you feeling?"<br>"You want the honest answer? I feel like hell. My heads pounding, my chest hurts like crazy, my whole body's aching and the room is spinning. Seriously, you'd think I'd just been shot!" I say. I watch as Nick and Zoe exchange worried glances. "Oh my god!" I blurt out. "Have I?"  
>"It's not as bad as it sounds." Nick says quickly.<br>"You're completely fine now. You saved your teachers life you know." Zoe says.  
>"I did?"<br>"Yes. Stalled a mad gunman who was holding a gun to her head. Kept asking him questions, making him trust you and then manipulated his trust to persuade him to leave her alive. He did that, but wanted to shoot her still. So, he aimed at her arm. A place he knew would hurt her, but wouldn't kill her..." She says.  
>"Yes?" I prompt.<br>"Only he missed. He shot you accidentally."  
>"Oh. That sounds... Crazy."<br>"Yeah. It was. You were so brave." She says again.  
>"Yes, we're both very proud of you." Nick says. I smile.<br>"Thank you." I say, choking back more tears. Dixie walks in now.  
>"Hey Kiddo, heard you were awake." She says, smiling widely.<br>"Hi. Thanks by the way." I say.  
>"Don't mention it kiddo. By the way, I'm not sure anyone's told you this or not yet, but anyways. Just because your parents are both doctors, does not mean you need to spend your life in Accident and Emergency. 'Kay sweetheart?"<br>"Yes Dixie." I say, giggling at her sarcasm. Except, laughing hurts. "Ow."  
>"What's wrong baby?" Zoe asks.<br>"Just a really bad head ache." I tell her.  
>"I'll go get her some paracetamol. Be right back." Nick says, leaving the room.<br>"Thanks!" I call after him. He waves a hand in response, so that I know he's heard.  
>"Well, any chance of getting out of here anytime soon?" I ask, hopefully.<br>"Not a chance in hell. Do you have any idea how injured you were? You'll be in here for a few days minimum. Sorry about that." Zoe says.  
>"Mum, can you tell me exactly what happened? I can't remember..."I trail off.<br>"I suppose... But if it upsets you in any way shape or form, I'm stopping. Deal?"  
>"Deal."<br>"All right. Well. You already know the start... The bullet hit you square in the chest. Dixie and Jeff arrived and called me immediately. It had punctured your left ventricle, millimetres from... Well, I couldn't move you. I operated at the scene. Then we brought you here... Yesterday. Adam's been treating you ever since. And now you're awake."  
>"Oh." I say. "You seriously did an operation in the class room?"<br>"Yes, and she did a blooming good job of it too." Comes Nick's voice from the door way.  
>"Well thank you. I mean it. Thank you." I say. Nick comes over and hands me two paracetamol and a cup of water. I swallow them gratefully.<br>"Thanks."  
>"It's okay, stop thanking us." He replies kindly.<br>"Sorry." I mumble. "So... What now?" I ask them. I really don't want to be stuck in here for three days. Who wants to be wired up to a machine for three days, unable to get a decent night's sleep for three days? Jeez, you'd get less for GBH!  
>"You're under obs for the next however long John sees fit." Nick informs me.<br>"Excellent." I say with sarcasm. "Actually, mum, would you be okay to sort my tongue out before it gets too swollen to fit inside my mouth?" I ask politely.  
>"Yes. Sorry, I forgot about that." She says.<br>"Erm, why is her tongue swollen?" Nick asks. Zoe and I exchange a quick glance. "Wait, do I want to know?" He asks.  
>"Well... I... Mum, you tell him." I stammer.<br>"She has a tongue piercing, it's infected." I hold my breath waiting for the reaction.  
>"Amy?" I look at him, eyes wide.<br>"Yes?"  
>"Is that true?" He asks.<br>"Yes, but I did it years ago!" I say, indignantly.  
>"Because that makes it ten times better." He says sarcastically.<br>"Nick, we can't check her for something that happened before she came into our care. Lets just fix it and move on." Mum says.  
>"Fine." He replies, with even more indignance than me. Mum sets to work pulling out the little golden stud that usually sits in the centre of my tongue. She then gets it all cleaned out and starts me on a course of antibiotics. The swelling has decreased considerably.<br>"Thanks." I say, when she's finished.  
>"That's okay." Zoe replies, Michael just grunts.<br>"So, should we maybe let Adam know that I'm alive?" I ask, sarcastically.  
>"That's probably a very wise plan, Nick, would you do that?" Zoe asks him.<br>"Sure." He leaves the room, only to return moments later with Adam.  
>"Amy, great to see you awake!" He says, enthusiastically.<br>"Yeah, I feel way better too." I say, hopefully. Mum clocks it.  
>"Nice try Amy, but you're still under obs." She says.<br>"Damn." Is all I reply with. Adam laughs.  
>"Yes. I'm afraid Zoe's right, you've had quite the trauma. Now, I am going to have Big Mac come and move you to CDU as we need Paed's resus for other patients. Sorry about that. Sister Bateman will be doing your obs. I'll come in and check on you every couple of hours but for now that's it. Then, hopefully, we can get that IV line out of your arm by tomorrow."<br>"Good, it's starting to really ache." I say.  
>"I know. Bare with us." He exits. A few minutes later, Big Mac comes and wheels me through to CDU. Nick goes back to work and I'm left with mum.<br>"Are you okay?" I ask her.  
>"Yes, why?" She says, innocently.<br>"Because you look exhausted."  
>"I'm fine, honestly." She says, but I can tell she's lying. Her chocolate brown eyes are now bloodshot and she has dark, purple bags circling them. The worry over my incident at the school is creasing her face and just looking at her is making me feel so guilty that there are tears in my eyes.<br>"No you're not. Come lie up here. This bed is huge. You can get some shut eye." I say. She goes to protest again, claiming that she is fine. "No mum, you're not. Come lie beside me." I shuffle over to the edge of the bed, leaving loads of space for her to lie down next to me. She caves in and just obeys. Once she's lying down, she puts an arm round me, I bury my head in her chest and close my eyes. Seconds later, I'm out for the count.


	23. Chapter 24

_"Please."_ I whisper_. "Please don't shoot me again! Please! Just let me go!"_ I scream, thrashing around in my sleep. Suddenly, a pair of strong, caring hands hold me still and I can hear Zoe's voice.  
>"Amy. Wake up. Wake up and calm down sweetie, your safe. I promise, your safe here in the hospital, no ones going to hurt you. Open your eyes sweetie." Unwillingly, I oblige.<br>"Zoe..." I whisper.  
>"Yes sweetheart, I'm here." The tears that are already streaming my cheeks speed up, I begin to sob uncontrollably.<br>"I'm sorry!" I cry and just throw my arms around her. I stay wrapped in her arms, sobbing into her chest for what seems like forever. I only let her go when Nickstarts to speak to us.  
>"What's wrong?" He asks, simply, from behind me.<br>"She had a bit of a nightmare..." Zoe explains.  
>"Oh. Are you all right?" He asks, concerned.<br>"I'm fine thanks... Dad." His eyes widen in shock and happiness. I swear I catch a tear escaping but he wipes it away so fast, I can't be sure.  
>"We'll, that's... That's good." He comes over to us. I swivel my hips round a little and hug him.<br>"I love you dad." I say.  
>"I love you too sweetheart." I turn and look back at mum. She has tears welling up in her eyes too.<br>"I'm going to try and sleep again. I'm really tired." I tell her.  
>"Okay, lie back down then." I do as she says, burrowing my head back in her chest. A single tear, left over from the nightmare, escapes the corner of my eye. Mum wipes it away, gently, with the pad of her thumb. I shut my eyes and, yet again, I'm gone in seconds.<p>

I open my eyes to find myself in CDU, however, mums gone from beside me. I start to panic. I can't remember what I'm doing in here. I don't where mum and dad are, and, quite frankly, I'm scared.  
>"Kirsty!" I call out, she comes over from the desk to answer me.<br>"Hey, sweetie! Glad to see you finally awake!" She says brightly.  
>"Where's mum, why's it so dark and what am I doing here?" I ask, still panicking.<br>"Don't you remember?" She asks worriedly.  
>"No! I can't! Why can't I remember?" I whisper.<br>"Okay, I'll find out in a minute. Do you remember being shot?"  
>"Oh... Right... Yes. I do now."<br>"Well that's a start. That happened. You had an operation and you fell asleep in here. It's dark because its midnight." She explains. But, that couldn't be right? That would mean I'd slept all day...  
>"So I slept all day?"<br>"Well... All day yesterday, all through the night and all day today. But bare in mind, you had a massive trauma. It's only natural that you will sleep A LOT in the next few days. Don't panic." I relax a little.  
>"Okay. Where's mum then?"<br>"She's on shift sweetie. She came in to see you earlier, but you were still asleep. She's in resus with an RTC patient just now... I'll let her know you're up, and she can come see you when she's finished, 'kay sweetie?"  
>"'Kay" I reply, sinking back into my pillow. Everything is fine. It's weird. I used to really hate hospitals. Lying on a bed being poked and prodded by strangers, all of the questions. But most of all, all of the awkward questions about them. I really hated hospitals. Now, this place is becoming like a second home. And if you ask me, a hospital is a damn strange place to call home. Half an hour passes, Dr. Trueman comes in to check on me. He leaves the room just as mum enters it.<br>"Mum!" I exclaim.  
>"Amy! I'm sorry, I got held up. Are you feeling all right?" She asks.<br>"Yes. I'm feeling fine. I just want to go home." I tell her.  
>"I know sweetie. Tomorrow morning you can. Just, close your eyes and try to go back to sleep. Then you can go home. Promise." She says and I nod. Her pager begins to bleep. "Resus." She states, checking it. "I've got to go love, seriously, try and sleep again." She kisses my forehead and then runs to answer her pager. I shut my eyes and soon fall asleep again.<p> 


	24. Chapter 25

"Amy? Amy wake up." I hear. Someone is nudging me. Reluctantly, I open my eyes. Nick is standing beside my bed.  
>"Hi." I say.<br>"Hey. We can go home now. Zoe's gone already, her shift finished two hours ago. She came in here but I caught her asleep on the chair, sent her home. Sorry." He says.  
>"No. I agree. She should've just gone home straight after her shift. Can we go now?" I ask.<br>"Yes. Come on." He helps me down off of the bed, hands me a Holby city Hospital sweatshirt and supports me as we walk to the car. He lets me in the front and we drive home. As we turn onto our street, we discover an unfamiliar car on the driveway.  
>"I wonder who that belongs to." Nick wonders out loud.<br>"Well, we're about to find out." I say, as he unlocks the front door and we go in.  
>"Mum?" I shout walking into the living room. I find her pacing, nervously and uncomfortably.<br>"Hello sweetheart." She says, equally nervously. I hug her then turn around. Upon laying my eyes on the sofa, I stop dead in my tracks. The air is caught in my throat. I feel completely trapped. Shocked to the point where I can't move.  
>"Hi." She says. It's them. I literally can't believe it. I turn back to mum.<br>"I... I can't... Sorry." I run straight back out of the house. I keep running, ignoring my mums desperate screams to come back, dad's shouts about watching the stitches and that I'm not well enough to be running around like this. I don't even care. I just keep running.


	25. Chapter 26

"Should we..." The woman, Carol, utters.  
>"No! I think you've done enough!" I spit at her. Imagine that! The nerve. Turning up here after treating her the way they did and just expecting her to understand!<br>"Nick, she's not fit!" I shout, choking back sobs, tears racing down my face out of pure anger towards those people and what they've done.  
>"I know!" He says, equally worried.<br>"Sorry but... What do you mean... She's not fit?" She asks.  
>"Not that you care, but she was shot on Tuesday!" Nick shouts.<br>"Oh..."  
>"I'm going to take the Merc out. You stay here, see if she turns up." I say to Nick.<br>"Okay." I run out of the house, grabbing the car keys en route. I jump into the passenger door and, just as I put it into first gear, my phone bleeps. I scramble to pick it up, praying its Amy. I open the message and see that it is.  
>'Mum, don't worry. I'm in the staff room with Dixie. I'm sorry. I just panicked. 3 Amy.'<br>Reads the message.  
>"Thank God!" I say out loud and immediately begin to drive. Once I get to the hospital, I run, full speed, into the staff room and burst in the door.<br>"Amy! Argh you gave us such a fright!" I exclaim.  
>"I know mum, and I'm really sorry! Please understand!" She cries, getting up to hug me. There are fresh tear stains on her face.<br>"I do sweetie. I do understand. Did you get here okay, chest okay, stitches in tact?" I ask her, worriedly.  
>"Sort of. I burst one. But Doctor Nicholls fixed it for me." She jerks her head towards the kitchen. Sam is sitting there. She waves at me.<br>"Thanks Sam." I say. She just nods in response.  
>"Besides," Amy continues. "I didn't even get to run that far. Dixie and Jeff saw me and picked me up. That's how I ended up here." She says. Smiling warmly across to Dixie.<br>"Well, thanks Dixie. I'd better phone and let Nick know I've got you Amy." I say, taking out my phone.  
>"Hello?"<br>"Nick, it's me. I've got her. We're in the staff room. You stay where you are. We'll be home soon."  
>"Okay, love you."<br>"Love you too, bye."  
>"Bye." I say, turning back around to face Amy.<br>"I'm going to have to face them aren't I?" She whispers.  
>"You don't have to..." I says. "I can tell them to shove it." I tell her. She smiles at my choice of wording.<br>"How did they even find me?"  
>"The school told her the orphanage's name, they told her to find us." I explain. She just nods.<br>"Well, the right thing to do is to face them. But I want you by my side the entire time... The other end of the room. Is that okay?" She asks, worriedly.  
>"Yes sweetheart. Come on then, lets get home." I smile. "Thanks again guys." I say, to Dixie and Sam."<br>"That's fine Zoe." Sam replies.  
>"Any time, ain't that right kiddo." Dixie says to Amy.<br>"You bet." Amy replies, smiling through her own tears.

I walk balk into the house, squeezing Amy's hand in attempt to offer some reassurance and confidence. She smiles back at me.  
>"Nick!" I shout, padding, bare foot, back into the living room.<br>"Hello Zoe." He says, then looks at Amy. "You scared the life out of me." He says.  
>"I know dad, I'm so sorry." She says, running over and hugging him. I join her again and she, willingly, takes my hand before turning to face them.<br>"Well, hi." She says, quietly.  
>"Hi." Carol replies.<br>"What the hell are you doing here!" Amy shouts, her anger, all of the hurt these people caused, now resurfacing and providing her with the confidence she needs.  
>"We missed you." Her biological father says to her.<br>"We love you, we wanted to see you again."  
>"Yeah right. If any of that guff were true, you wouldn't have dumped me."<br>"It wasn't like that!" They protest.  
>"What was it then. International stuff up the minds of your kids day? Ruin your kids life and not give a damn day? Which was it?"<br>"Don't talk to us like that- " She utters, but Amy cuts her off.  
>"DON'T CHECK ME! You gave up that right 3 years ago!" She yells. "Mum, I know I said I'd try. But I can't do this." She says, turning to me. "Can you just get rid of them. I don't ever want to see them again." She says, running to her room.<br>"Nick can you...?" I start.  
>"Yeah, I got it." He finishes<br>"Okay. You heard her. Just leave her. Like she so rightly pointed out, you've ruined her life enough already. Goodbye." I say coldly, opening the front door for them to leave. They don't.  
>"You don't understand!" She pleads. "We had a reason for doing what we did!" I literally have no idea what to think. I'm struggling to digest what she has just dared to throw in my face.<br>"There is no reason to justify what you did. The fact that you can't see that proves that it's true."  
>"No, please! Just hear us out. I was diagnosed with breast cancer. We didn't want to put Amelia- "<br>"Amy." I correct. "Her name is Amy." She sighs, but obliges.  
>"We didn't want to put Amy through that, watching me die! We didn't want to subject her to the pain of dealing with that! She was so young!" She says. "Thankfully the chemo worked, they told us it wouldn't though. We thought I was dying and we didn't want Amy to watch that!" I just sigh and put my face in my hands.<br>"You still don't get it do you!" I shout, exasperated. "Instead of whatever pain shed have experienced dealing with you and your cancer, you forced her to deal with another grief. The grief of losing her parents by force. She had to suffer the loss of both of her parents, knowing that they had chosen to get rid of her. She would have felt grief if you'd died, but you didn't! So she went through all of that for nothing! Had you allowed her to stay, it would have been hard for her at the time, but you would all have pulled through. Instead, she's scarred for life by your actions. And, just to add insult to injury, her teachers were cruel to her and she was bullied by the other kids. Aged twelve, that poor little girl turned to self harm. You cannot justify that. Cancer or no cancer. You do not deserve her sympathy. You never did. Gosh! You didn't deserve the twelve years that you got with her! Now you really have lost her. She has told you, she doesn't want to know you. Now, could you please leave myself, my husband and our daughter alone. Thank you." I say, as patiently as I can, even though on the inside I want to cease them both and slap them as hard as I can. Repeatedly. And never stop. Finally, they take the hint and go quietly. "Thank you." I think out loud, after shutting the door. I head up stairs to find out what's going on. Upon walking into Amy's bedroom, I find her curled up in the foetal position, Michael's arms around her, sobbing her eyes out into his chest. Her fingers are gripping onto his shirt so tightly that her knuckles are white. As though the second she lets go, the security goes to and she doesn't look like she could cope with that. She looks up at me and utters one single word.  
>"Why?"<br>"I don't know sweetheart, I really don't."  
>"Why couldn't they have just left me alone now. They got rid of me, why couldn't they just leave me alone. Let me have my chance at happiness and stay away from me? No! They had to come and try to ruin me all over again!" She says.<br>"Sweetheart, they never ruined you in the first place. They hurt you, yes. I'm not denying that. But I promise, they haven't ruined you. You're beautiful, inside and out. Not ruined." She just sobs again. I sit down beside them, place a comforting hand on her back and rub it reassuringly.  
>"Sh sweetheart. It's okay." Nick whispers.<br>"I just want to live my life with you and dad and forget about them. I don't care how hard they try. I don't want them in my life and I certainly don't want to be in theirs. I'm not thick. They are though. I've always known about her cancer. I'd have coped more with that than I did with what they did to me. You know what though?"  
>"What baby?" I say, softly.<br>"I'm sort of glad now, because if they hadn't done what they did, I've never have gotten you two as parents. To be quite frank, I don't know what I'd have done without you two. Can we just get back to our lives and forget that that ever happened?" She asks me.  
>"Of course we can. Lets go out for lunch, I'm perfectly starved."<br>"That's a good idea, I'm completely ravenous." Nick agrees.  
>"Yes. I'd like that." Amy whispers, releasing her grip on Nick's shirt.<br>"Brilliant. Where would you like to go Amy, it's your choice." She sits up, deliberating over the many lunching options that Holby provides.  
>"Can we go to 'Pizza Hut'?" She asks, finally.<br>"Of course. Come on, grab your coat and we'll go." She gets up off of the bed, walks over to her wardrobe and puts on her grey, woollen coat. I look across at Nick, who catches my look and winks at me. I love it when he does that. I love our little family.


	26. Chapter 27

_**Amy's POV**_

I'm currently sitting in 'Pizza Hut' with Mum and Dad. Apart from earlier's little escapade with them I've never felt happier in my entire life. We ordered about ten minutes ago, finally, a waiter appears with our pizzas.  
>"Thanks." I say, as he lays the down and walks off.<br>"Well," Mum says. "Dig in." I do. I've ordered a small Margareta pizza. That's my favourite. It doesn't take us long to finish them.  
>"Who's up for ice cream?" Dad says, winking at me.<br>"Was that a challenge?" I say, sarcastically.  
>"Depends on your perspective." He says, laughing. I laugh at his childish behaviour.<br>"Fine, challenge accepted." Mum laughs too.  
>"I don't think you'll manage it!" Dad says in a mock, sing-song voice.<br>"You doubt my abilities!" I reply, laughing. We order the ice cream. In no time at all, I'm scraping the bottom of the bowl. "You know, I think we've sorted my appetite out pretty good mum." I say matter-of-factly.  
>"Yes, I agree." She says, laughing at the way I scoffed the ice cream. "You finished too?" She says, smirking and raising her eyebrows at Mick.<br>"Mhmm." He mumbles through his last spoonful.  
>"Come on then, lets get out of here.<p> 


	27. Chapter 28

hey guys, so so sorry its taken me so long to update this story. I just had the biggest writers block in the world and had no idea where to go with it. Please keep reviewing and let me know if you have any ideas on where to take it because they would be greatly appreciated.

aimee x

* * *

><p>As we get in the door, Zoe turns to me.<p>

"Why don't you go and pick a movie, we can all just chill out now." She says.

"Sure, thanks mum. Anything suit your fancy?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"Anything you want baby girl." I nod and run up to my bedroom to pick one. About two minutes later, I walk back into the living room and hand Nick 'Wild Child', he nods, and puts it in the machine. We spend the next hour or so watching it, all tucked up with a blanket on the sofa. Zoe's been rubbing my back reassuringly the whole time, its so nice to feel loved and wanted again. When the movie finishes, Nick heads into the kitchen to make tea. I turn to face Zoe.

"Do you think I did the right thing? With... Them?" I ask her, cautiously.

"Sweetheart. You did the right thing for you, thats all that matters. Wether that's hurt them or not, is not important. You need to do whats best for yourself sometimes, which I'm proud of you for doing." She says. I nod in response.

"Okay, but you don't think I was too harsh on them?"

"No sweetie, I don't. Especially after how they've treated you. I don't want you to feel guilty about your actions today, you didn't do anything wrong. Okay?" I nod.

"Okay." Nick comes back into the room and hands us out our tea's before sitting down next to Zoe again.

"So, Amy. I have something I wanted to talk to you about." He says.

"Okay..."

"Well, I was wondering, if you would like to meet your new grandparents? You know, Zoe and I's parents." I smile at him.

"I'd love that!" I say, enthusiastically.

"Thats good to hear. Also, Zoe's got a sister. We'd like you to meet her too." He replies.

"She's not married, but she has a young daughter. Her name is Emma." Zoe adds. "I'm sure she's dying to meet her new big cousin."

"I'd love to meet her!" I exclaim. I'm so happy Nick and Zoe want to introduce me to their family, it almost... Almost makes me a true member of their family.

"Excellent. Well, my family are easy. Mum has asked us around to her house for dinner tomorrow evening. My sister, Elizabeth, will be there with Emma. However, Nick's family will prove a small challenge." Zoe tells me.

"How so?" I look up at Nick, who quickly exchanges a glance with Zoe before meeting my eyes again and smiling warmly.

"Because they live in Rome." He says simply, as if it is the most natural thing in the world. I gasp.

"So," Zoe continues. "We've booked a holiday there for the long weekend. You have tomorrow to pack, we'll go to dinner at my mums, then we will come home, sleep until midnight, then we're up and out, off to the airport for the two am flight to Rome!" I jump up onto my feet I'm so excited!

"No way! That's so cool! We're really going to Rome! Wow!" I exclaim.

"Yes sweetie, we're going to Rome!" Zoe says. I sit back down again and wrap my arms around her neck.

"Thank you!" I tell her, before letting go and going to hug Nick too. "Seriously, thank you! I love you guys so much!" I say. And its true. I really do love them.

I walk into the living room all excited. I've finished packing and I've left my suitcase and my clothes for the flight out, next to my bed, ready for me when we get up for the flight in the morning. I'm now dressed up in a flowing, green, knee length party dress. The rim is lined with silver beads, sequenced and studs for a sparkly effect. I am also wearing my silver, sparkly pumps to match. Zoe curled my hair for me too, and she did my make up.

"You look beautiful." She says to me, as I sit down on the couch.

"Yes, you look fantastic Amy." Nick adds.

"Thank you." I say. I am so nervous. My hands are shaking and I keep picking my lips.

"Amy, relax. Its not going to be a persecution complex, they just want to meet you sweetheart." Nick says.

"I know, I know. But... I can't help it." I reply.

"They're going to love you, so calm down baby girl." Zoe says. She finishes putting Nick's cuff links on him and then stands up.

"Well, that's everything. Time to leave." She says.

"Great, you get the coats, I'll go start the car." Nick says, standing and leaving the room.

"Okay Amy, you heard the man, grab your coat." Zoe tells me. I nod, turn around and pick it up off of the sofa. Its cream, knee length, a beautiful material and has big, round buttons. I put it on, button up and tie it.

"You look so gorgeous in that!" Zoe says. She's now wearing her coat too.

"Thanks mum." We hear Nick tooting the horn, look at each other and giggle.

"Well, we better not leave him any longer." She picks up his coat and I follow her out to the car.

The journey to Zoe's parents' house is not a long one. Nick parks the car on their drive way and we all get out. Zoe leads us up the path and heads into the house, without knocking.

"Mum!" She calls. "We're here!" My stomach hits the floor. I'm still so nervous. Nick clocks it and takes a firm hold of my hand.

"Relax." He says. But I can't relax. I squeeze his hand in response, because I'm too nervous to speak. Then an older looking couple enter the hallway.

"Ah Zoe, its so lovely to see you dear!" The woman exclaims, embracing Zoe. Once she lets go, the man hugs her too.

"Hi Mum, hi Dad, its good to see you too." She says. "This is Amy, she's our daughter." She tells them.

"Oh my. Aren't you pretty." Her mum says to me.

"Thank you." I try to say, but it comes out more of a whisper than anything.

"Oh dear, don't be shy. Come and give me a hug." Something about the woman's kind, warm eyes, and her resemblance to Zoe, actually does relax me a little. So I let go of Nick's hand and walk over to hug the woman.

"That's better dear."

"Its nice to meet you, we've heard so much about you." Zoe's dad adds, opening his arms for a hug too. He has the same loving eyes as the rest of them, so I happily oblige and hug him too.

"Its nice to meet you too." I say. Once he lets go of me, I go back to Nick and take hold of his hand again. He squeezes my hand gently as reassurance.

"Well, lets get you into the living room and you can meet Elizabeth. By the way, I'm Ellen, and this is John. But, you can call us anything you like from Granny and Grandpa to Nanna and Pappa. We don't mind either way." Ellen says. I nod, shyly. "Well, come on then. She leads us all down the hallway and into a large living room. There is a tall beautiful woman sitting on the couch. She has to be Zoe's sister because she looks just like her, just younger, but not much younger. Also, there is a little girl sitting on the floor, happily playing with a baby doll. She can't be much older than two. So she must be Emma. Elizabeth stands and comes over to us.

"Hello Zoe." She says, "oh, and you must be Amy. Its so nice to finally meet you." I smile, shake the hand she's holding out to me and nod.

"Yes, you too." I reply. I catch Zoe smiling at me.

"And this little one is my favourite niece in the whole wide world isn't she!" Zoe says, going over and picking up Emma, who giggles beautifully as Zoe gives her a great big kiss on the cheek.

"Zo Zo!" The young girl exclaims.

"Thats right!"

"She's absolutely gorgeous." I find myself saying.

"Thank you." Elizabeth replies. "She takes after her mother." She adds as an after thought, to which, Nick laughs.

"You are so much like Zoe its ridiculous." He says, leaving everyone laughing.

"Well, I'll just go check on the dinner, everyone, just make yourselves at home." Ellen says, heading for the kitchen. Zoe sits down next to her dad on one couch, the two seater, leaving Nick, Elizabeth and myself the three seater. I sit down in the middle, so that I'm next to Nick.

"So Amy, how old are you?" John asks me.

"I'm 15." I reply.

"Wow. Thats a wonderful accent you've got yourself there, which part of Scotland are you from?" He asks.

"Glasgow. However, I don't have much of a Glaswegian accent anymore, because I went to boarding school in Edinburgh." He nods.

"Well thats nice, your accent is lovely."

"Thank you." An awkward silence falls. No one says anything, and we're mostly avoiding eye contact with each other. Out of no where though, Emma stands up and waddles over to me, places her hands on my knee's and smiles up at me.

"Hayo!" She says, in a gorgeous little girl's voice.

"Hello sweetheart." I say. "You're just gorgeous aren't you. Her smile widens, which melts my heart completely. "Oh I could just steal you!" I say. She lifts her arms up above her head and points at me.

"That means she wants you to pick her up." Elizabeth tells me.

"Are you okay with that?" I ask.

"Of course." She says, so I pick Emma up off of the floor and stand. Immediately, she burrows her head in my neck and grips my T-shirt tightly.

"Aww baby, is someone tired?" I say to her. "Feel free to close your wee eyes darling." I can't believe how fast she's taken to me.

"You know, she'll love you forever if you sing to her." John says.

"In here? In front of everyone?" I say. He laughs.

"Well, no one's judging you." He says.

"Well, what does she like you to sing?" I ask.

"Anything at all. But make it soft, she is trying to sleep after all." Elizabeth tells me.

"Um, okay." I clear my throat. "Ali, bali, ali bali bee. Sittin' on yer mammy's knee. Greetin' for a wee bawbee, tae buy some coulter's candy. Here's wee Jeani, she's awfy thin! A rickle of bones covered up wae skin, noo she's goin' fer her second chin, fae eatin' coulter's candy." I sing. Just as I finish the second verse, the young girl lets out a little snore.

"Wow." I whisper. "She really does go for the singing thing huh? Now, where shall I put her down?" I ask.

"Follow me." Elizabeth says, getting up and heading back into the hallway. I follow her to an upstairs bedroom, in which, I place Emma down in the middle of a big double bed and arrange the pillows around her so that she won't role off. Elizabeth turns on the baby monitor and then leads me back downstairs.

"You've got a lovely voice Amy." Zoe says, as we walk back into the living room.

"Doesn't she just!" Her dad adds. "And that was a beautiful Scottish lullaby."

"Thank you. I'm surprised I remembered it actually..." I say, trailing off. Another awkward silence falls.

"Well it was lovely. Right, surely the dinner is ready by now. I'm going to go see." Elizabeth states.

"Me too." John says. They both get up and go to the kitchen. Once they're gone, Nick and Zoe turn to me.

"Are you okay?" Zoe asks me.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Sweetie, you look sad. If this is too much for you, we can call it a day." She says.

"No, no. I don't want to do that. I just... I forgot what it was like to have a family. For people you love to say nice things to you like 'hey, you've got a nice voice' and 'oh aren't you pretty'. No one's really said anything like that to me for years, its just kind of emotional for me. Sorry." I tell her, looking at the floor the whole time.

"Oh sweetie, don't apologise. We get it." She days.

"Its completely fine to long for those feelings, its okay to miss them and its definitely okay to feel overwhelmed in the situations, like this one, when these feelings come back." Nick adds. I just nod. We remain in silence until Ellen comes in announcing that dinner is ready and the table is set. So we follow her through to the kitchen and enjoy a beautiful, well cooked dinner.

"Thanks for having us over." Zoe says to her mum and dad. "I'll call you. When the plain lands tomorrow, okay?" They nod.

"Olay dear. Love you." They turn to me. "It was lovely to meet you. Have fun in Rome."

"Thank you, it was great meeting you too." I say, then hug them both again. I also give Elizabeth, who is letting Emma sleep over seeing as she was sleeping so peacefully up in the bedroom.

"Great to finally meet you. You're every bit as wonderful as they made you out to be, and more. And thanks for putting Emma to sleep, you're a star." She says to me.

"Not a problem. If you ever need a baby sitter, I work for nothing!" I say laughing, everyone else laughs too.

"Right, lets get on and get some sleep before the flight. Bye everyone." Nick says, to which, Zoe's family provide a chorus of 'good-bye's' and 'good luck's', after which, we get into the car and drive home.


	28. Chapter 29

**hey guys. So I'm enjoying writing this story again so that means that I'll try hard to update often. Suggestions are always appreciated. Please, please keep reviewing. I love to hear your thoughts! Thanks so much. Also, if you like this story, I have two other Nick and Zoe fic's called 'Will it Be a Happily Ever After?' And 'The Familiar Stranger.' Which I will also try to regularly update. Love to all**

**aimee x**

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><p>"Amy sweetheart, wake up. Its time to get up darling." I hear, as someone gently nudges my shoulder. I open my eyes slowly, to find Zoe standing over my bed.<p>

"Hello." I say, in a tired voice.

"Hi darling, time to get up and get dressed and then you can come down for breakfast. We'll be on a plane soon." She says. I smile widely.

"I know! I'm so excited! You know, I've never been on holiday before?" I say.

"No way! Well, you'll enjoy it even more then! Hurry up and get dressed, Nick's made us pancakes!"

"Okay mum, I won't be long." She nods and leaves the room, so I get up and turn on the light. My clothes are sitting on my chair so I pick them up, grab a towel and head to the bathroom. I jump into the shower and, very quickly, wash my hair. Once I'm finished, I step out of the shower, towel dry my hair, brush it and put it up into french plaits. It looks okay, so I put on my deodorant, brush my teeth and then get dressed. I spray on some of my Marc Jacobs' 'Daisy', the perfume Zoe bought me a few days ago, before unlocking the door, throw my towel onto the washing basket and head downstairs.

"You look nice." Zoe says, as I enter the kitchen.

"Thanks, so do you mum." She laughs.

"Thank you sweetie. Here you go, enjoy them." She says, handing me a plate of pancakes.

"Yum!" I exclaim, taking it off of her and sitting down to eat them. I grab my knife and fork and then completely devour the pancakes.

"Gosh, were you hungry then Amy?" Nick says, laughing at me, as he walks into the kitchen.

"Just a smidge." I reply, giggling at my own actions.

"Well, all of the suitcases are packed into the car. You two ready to go?" He asks. Zoe and I nod in response. "Excellent, I'll just double-check that everything is locked up and all electrical things are turned off, and then we'll head off. Why don't you two go and get into the car whilst I do that?" He asks.

"Great idea." Zoe takes my hand and leads me out to the car whilst Nick goes off double checking everything. I get into the back of the car whilst Zoe gets into the passenger seat in the front.

"I'm so excited!" I say, again. Zoe laughs.

"I know baby girl. I'm excited too. I'm glad you're up for all of this." She says.

"Of course I'm up for it. I really love that you want me to be a part of your family. It really does make me happy. Thank you."

"Thats okay baby girl, we want nothing more than to help you and to make you feel happy. I'm so glad that you are. I love you you know."

"I love you too mum." I lean across the centre console and give my mum a quick kiss on the cheek.

"That's my girl." She says. I sit back and fasten my seatbelt just as Nick gets into the car.

"Right, we're all ready to go."

The journey to the airport was relatively long. We arrive at half past one and park in the long term car park. Nick removes the suitcases from the car boot and loads them onto a luggage cart. He locks the car and turns to us. I'm standing holding Zoe's hand, grinning like the cheshire cat.

"Lets go catch our flight." He says, grinning equally enthusiastically as me. He pushes the trolley, leading us into the large airport and into the appropriate queue.

"This is so cool!" I say, watching everyone checking in their bags.

"You're acting like you've never been in an airport before!" Nick says, laughing. I look down.

"I haven't." I tell him.

"Well you're in for a good time then aren't you!" He said, smile widening.

"I suppose I am." As I finished speaking, the lady at the desk called us over. I stood watching, fascinated, as Nick filled out the forms and placed each bag, one at a time, onto the conveyer belt to be loaded onto the plane. When they finished, Nick tied the special tags onto our hand luggage, picked up the boarding passes, and lead us away from the desk.

"So, we can either head to the boarding area early. Or we can spend another half hour looking at the few shops that the airport has. Which is it girls?" He said, then, under his breath, added, "although there's really no point asking, because I'm sure I already know the answer." I giggle.

"Thats right Nick, you do. Shopping!" Zoe said. We spend the next half hour, as predicted, floating around the various shops. However we soon run out of time, so Nick leads us to the 'departures' section. It's even cooler than the baggage check area! I am so fascinated by it all, especially the security machines. They're just like the ones in the films. It doesn't take us long to get through it all, and, before we know it, we're on the plane. We're on the left hand side in the business section of the plane. Its so cool, I have my own air conditioner, phone and television.

"This is actually the coolest thing ever!" I say. Nick and Zoe laugh.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Nick says. I smile at him, as we're sitting laughing and talking about the flight ahead, the captain announces that we will be taxying to the runway and that, in that time, we must fasten our seat-belts and pay attention to the safety demonstration by the air hostesses. I'm starting to get nervous, its a frightening thought, a machine like this, being carried by the air. I don't know how something as heavy as an aero-plane could possibly fly. Nick and Zoe sense my agitation. Zoe places her hand on my knee.

"Its okay Amy, there isn't anything to worry about. I promise. You can relax." She says, softly. I just nod. We reach the run way and the captain moves the plane into position. Once its fixed, he tells all of the passengers to prepare for take off. I gulp. Zoe takes a hold of my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze.

"Its okay." She says, as the plane races, full speed down the runway.

"Its going to fast!" I say, petrified.

"Don't worry, it'll slow down once we're in the air. You're fine. I promise. I just nod. Just as the plane leaves the ground, my ears pop terribly. I gasp in pain and my hands fly up to cover them.

"Oh baby are your ears sore? Chew on this, it'll help." She hands me a piece of chewing gum.

"Thanks." I say, taking it off of her and putting it into my mouth. She's right, the chewing and sucking stops my ears from popping.

"Better?" She asks me.

"Much. Thanks mum." We fall silent for a little while. The plane finally reaches full altitude and the TV's on the back of the seats all come on.

"How long will the flight take?" I ask Zoe.

"About three hours honey. Its not a long one. Just put on a movie or two. Or you could go back to sleep if you want." She says. I deliberate for a minute or two.

"Mum?" She looks up at me again.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Could I possibly lie with my head on your lap?" I ask her, shyly.

"Of course you can. Here," she says, and puts the arm rest up so that I can lay down. "That should make you more comfortable." I smile and lie down, resting my head on Zoe's lap. She places a loving hand on my head and strokes my hair soothingly. I feel so relaxed its insane, so I close my eyes gratefully and fall into a very peaceful sleep.


	29. Chapter 30

"Right sweetie, open your eyes." Zoe says, shaking me gently. I peel my eyes apart and sit up.

"Are we in Rome yet?" I ask, sleepily.

"Almost. We just have to land. You just need to sit up so you can re-fasten your seat belt. Its the rules, otherwise we'd have let you sleep." Nick tells me. I nod and fasten my seatbelt. The announcement bell dings and the captain begins to speak to us.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Could everyone please return to their seats and fasten their seat-belts as we begin our descent. Thank you." He finishes. I'm buzzing with excitement.

"Amy you look like you've just been handed a lifetime supply of chocolate!" Zoe says, laughing.

"I know! I can't help it! This is all so cool!" I say. Her and Nick smile at me.

"We're glad. Oh, and here's another piece of gum to chew on sweetie." She hands me a piece which I gladly take and begin to chew.

"Thanks Zoe." She smiles.

"Thats okay sweetie."

Landing takes about ten minutes in total. The whole plane judders as the wheels hit the tarmac, it frightens me at first but as the plane comes to a halt, I calm down.

"Well, welcome to Rome Amy." Nick says. I beam at him.

"This is amazing!" I say. Zoe laughs and gives me a quick hug.

"Right munchkin," she says. "Grab your hand luggage and lets get off of this plane." Nick takes the hand luggage out of the compartment above our heads and hands them to us. We then join the rest of the passengers in leaving the plane. I walk into the Italian airport dragging my hand luggage with one hand and holding Zoe's hand with the other, smiling more than ever. Nick leads us to the conveyer belt that is in the centre of the room. It has all of the luggage on it. We retrieve our bags from the belt and then join the queue's that lead to the security gates. It doesn't take too long to get through and before we know it, we're walking out of arrivals and into Rome.

"Mama!" Nick calls and rushes over to an older Italian woman. She kisses him on each cheek and then wraps him in a tight embrace. He then turns to the man that is standing next to her and repeats the same actions. "Papa!" He exclaims, and then breaks into a fast-paced conversation in Italian. Zoe and I walk up to them, immediately, they each hug Zoe and, this time in English, say,

"Zoe! It is so good to see you again!" I watch Zoe smile widely.

"You too Maria! And Paolo! You both look wonderful!" She says, as she kisses each of their cheeks.

"Mama, Papa," Nick says, "I'd like you to meet Amy. My daughter." He beckons me to him. I walk over and he places a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"My, my! She is beautiful!" Maria exclaims. "Hello dear child! Ah, it is so nice to meet you!" She wraps me in a tight embrace and places a kiss on my cheek.

"It's lovely to meet you too." I say. She lets go and Paolo turns to me.

"It is lovely to finally meet you." He says and shakes my hand. He, too, places a kiss on my cheek.

"Yes, you too." I reply, shyly.

"Nicolo, what are we waiting for, lets get this poor child home! You all must be starving. We'll go home now and eat." Maria says. She takes my hand and begins leading me out of the airport. Nick, Zoe and Paolo follow on. We all pile into Maria and Paolo's car and drive home. Its a relatively long journey, but this is a good thing, I use it to catch up on some sleep. Zoe wakes me up just as the car turns onto a long, winding drive way. I look out of the window, enthralled, as the car pulls up outside of a large, pristine white mansion.

"Wow!" I exclaim, as the car comes to a halt. Maria and Paolo laugh at my reaction. "This is amazing!" I exclaim. Maria smiles at me.

"Yes well, it is home." She says. We get out of the car and carry the luggage into the house. Inside the front door lies a large entrance hall. It has a beautiful marble floor and marvellous chandelier. On the left, it leads to a large, extravagant dining room, on the right, a living room. However, it is the vintage-styled marble staircase in front of us that really catches my eye. It looks like it belongs in Buckingham palace!

"This is amazing!" I say again.

"Well dear child, I must show you your bedroom. I have done it all in white, but whilst you are here, you must show me how to decorate it. It is your room for when you stay here and I want you to make it your own." She says.

"I get my own room?" I say, astonished.

"Of course you do! Come and I will show it to you." She says. I look back at Zoe.

"On you go baby girl." She encourages, so I nod and follow Maria up the stairs. She leads me to the third floor, down the corridor and towards a set of double doors near the end.

"Close your eyes and take my hand sweetheart." She says. So I nod and do as I'm told. I hear the doors open, and feel Maria tug at my hand. So I walk forward, into the room. "Okay, open your eyes." Excitedly, I open my eyes to find myself standing in the most amazing bedroom I've ever seen! Its got a large, traditional, wooden four-post bed, with matching bedside cabinets against the back wall. But it doesn't end there, the room continues on, much like a hotel suite, to a living area, complete with couches and a television. Also, there is a small kitchen, complete with cupboards, a small fridge, an oven and cooker, a microwave, a toaster, a kettle and a tea pot. The room its self looks like a hotel room!

"Come on, I'll show you your closet!" Maria says, excitedly. She leads me over to another set of double doors and opens them to reveal the largest walk in wardrobe I have ever seen. Its the size of a small room.

"Wow!" I exclaim. "This is amazing!"

"I'm glad you like it. These clothes are just a few things I've picked up at the markets. They are gifts. I hope you like them. Also, if they don't fit, just let me know. I'm excellent with a needle and thread." She says. I look back at her with tears in my eyes.

"This is all amazing! Thank you so much!" I say.

"It is no bother. You are family now." This reduces me to sobs and I rush over to hug her.

"Thank you granny!" I say. She hugs me back.

"Thats all right child." She says. When we break apart, I see that she has tears in her eyes too. "Well. I'll leave you to unpack and I'll come back in ten minutes to show you where to come for lunch. Okay?" I nod.

"Sounds brilliant." I reply.

"Okay."

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><p><strong>So glad to hear that people still like this story. Please continue to read and review xxx<strong>


	30. Chapter 31

**sorry its been so long. I was in Scotland for a month and then had exams. Hope it was actually worth the wait...**

As I hang up the last of my clothes, I hear a soft knock on the door.

"Yes?" I call.

"Hello sweetheart, dinner is ready. Have you finished?" Maria asks, coming into the room.

"Yes, I've finished. I'm starving though!" I say, laughing. Maria laughs too.

"Good, because I have made lots to eat!" She holds her arm out to me. I smile at her and gladly take it. "That's my girl." She says, and leads me back down to the dining room.

"Hello baby girl, settled in?" Zoe says as we enter the room.

"Just about! You should see my room mum! Its massive!" They all laugh.

"We're so glad you like it!" Paolo says.

"Like it! I absolutely love it!" I say, sitting down in between Zoe and Maria. "Mum did you know, Granny stocked my closet full of clothes for me!" I exclaim. Everyone smiles at my use of the word 'Granny'. Maria's eyes glaze over again.

"I didn't know that. That was very kind of you Maria. Thank you." Zoe says.

We ate the largest, most amazing Italian styled lunch that I've ever had. As I finish, Maria turns to me.

"Now darling, did you bring your swimming costume with you?" She asks. I nod my head.

"Yes, its in my room." I tell her.

"Well, while my staff clear up our lunch, why don't you run upstairs and put it on. Then we can all go for a dip in the pool." I gasp.

"You have a pool!" I exclaim.

"Well of course we do!" She laughs. "On you go, go on up and get ready. Oh, and don't forget your towel." She pats my head affectionately as I leave the table. I run full speed up to my room, change quickly and then run down the corridor and knock Nick and Zoe's door.

"Who is it?" Nick calls.

"Its me dad." I say.

"Come in sweetheart." He says, so I go in. He and Zoe are pottering around the room sorting out their towels and sunglasses and what not. It's not a lot to do, however, and they finish quickly.

"Right," Zoe says, lets get back down." I smile as she takes my hand and, together, we all head back downstairs to Maria and Paolo.

"Hello again. Right, are we all ready?" Maria asks.

"Yes." Nick says.

"Well then, come on then." Maria says. She takes my hand and leads us to a large room at the back of the house. Inside that room, is a 25 meter long pool.

"Oh my go-oodness." I say, remembering in the nick of time that I had been warned not to use God's name in vain in front of Nick's parents.

"What, have you never seen a swimming pool before?" Paolo says, laughing.

"Not inside a house." I reply. He laughs and jumps in. I turn to Zoe and, under my breath, say,

"I feel like I'm a real life Annie!" To which she laughs.

"Come on then." Maria says, and together, we walk into the pool via the stairs. Nick and Zoe follow us in.

Our weekend in Italy was genuinely the best weekend I've ever had. The flight home wasn't terrible, but I'm really not that keen on flying. Zoe and Nick are back at work and I'm sitting in Maths trying to figure out what on earth to do with myself. The bell starts ringing suddenly and I heave a sigh of relief. Its finally 3:15. As I'm shoving my books back into my school bag, Tessie runs up to me.

"Amy, are you walking up to the hospital today?" She asks.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well I'm walking home too, and I pass it. So we can walk together. Hurry up with your schoolbag woman." She rambles, I laugh at her impatience.

"All right, calm your farm." I tell her. I finish up at my locker and follow her out of the school and up the road. We reach the ED fairly quickly, I hug Tessie goodbye and head on in.

"Ah, Amy. Come and wait in my office sweetie, you're mum and dad asked me to take care of you." Tess says as I walk up to the reception desk.

"Okay." I reply, but Tess seems a bit off, a bit staged even. We reach the office and she shuts the door behind us. "Tess what's going on?" I ask nervously.

"You're not to worry, but Zoe had a bit of a fall today."

"What? Is she okay? What happened?" I exclaim.

"She's fine now. Just resting in cubicles. She hadn't eaten much for a while and fainted. She banged her head slightly but there's no real damage okay. I just wanted to warn you so that you didn't freak out when you found her in cubicles." Tess smiles affectionately so I nod.

"Can I go and see her now?" I ask her.

"Yes, on you go. Cubicle four sweetie."

"Thanks Tess." I find myself almost running to cubicle four. I arrive and swing the curtain open rather harshly.

"Mum!" I exclaim. "What have you done to yourself?" She's lying on the bed, she looks exhausted, she's on a drip and there's a bit of dried blood on the side of her face.

"Hi sweetie. I'm fine. Everyone's making a fuss over nothing." I sigh.

"Mum this isn't nothing." Without even thinking about what I'm doing, I sanitise my hands, put on a pair of gloves and find a piece of cotton wool and some disinfectant.

"Amy what are you doing?" Mum asks, as I pour some of the disinfectant on to the cotton wool and begin cleaning the blood off of her face.

"I can't look at you with all that blood on your face. Just hold still." She smiles and obliges.

"Well, I've certainly got you trained well, haven't I." She chuckles a little and I smile at her.

"Yeah, something like that. Mum when are you going to be more careful. You could of really hurt yourself today."

"You sound just like your dad." She says.

"Yeah but its true. This could have been a lot worse." I tell her.

"I know, but it wasn't."

"Not the point though mum. Why hadn't you eaten?" I ask her.

"Because everything I eat just comes straight back up again and I'm not entirely sure why just yet." She explains.

"Well have you told dad yet? Or Tess? Or any of the other doctors and/or nurses you work with every day?"

"No, not yet."


	31. Chapter 32

right folks, I know this is super tiny, and I'm so sorry, but I have my final exams in less than a week (i.e. If you're Australian, my wace exams, if you're british, my highers.) so slightly stressed and i wrote this on study break just as like a filler chapter.

I finish what I'm doing and throw the bloody cotton into the bin. Just as I'm pulling off my gloves, Nick walks in.

"Hi dad."

"Hi Amy. What...?" He says, pointing at my gloves.

"Oh, I just cleaned up the blood stains on mum's face."

"Right. Which reminds me, how are you feeling Zoe?" He asks.

"Much better. And this IV is nearly done and ready to come out. So great." She says, I sigh at her.

"And she has something she wants to tell you dad, don't you mum?" I say, putting her on the spot.

"Oh, er, well, sort of. Its not important." She stammers.

"Yes, but actually it is." I say, pushing her further.

"Zoe, what is it?" Dad says.

"Right, its not a big deal. But I've been throwing up everything I eat." She says quietly.

"Zoe that is the very definition of a big deal!" He shouts.

"Not really. Its nothing Nick can we just leave it?" She pleads.

"No we cannot just leave it!" He begins checking everything. Her blood pressure, temperature, her chest, her pulse. He takes bloods and sends them off etc, etc.

"I still can't understand why you wouldn't tell me about this." Dad says.

"Nick I thought we'd dropped this."

"Well I don't think we can drop it. Thats something you should have told me." He finishes, and storms out of the cubicle. I look back at mum, she just sits there, and lets a single tear roll half way down her cheek before wiping it away. I don't know what to do. I don't want to say something and risk annoying her.

"I'm gonna go get some fresh air or something." I say, awkwardly.

"No. Amy, please stay." She says.

"Okay." I walk over and hug her. In that moment, Tess comes back in.

"Okay, Zoe, I have your results. It was a case of Norovirus." She says.

"Norovirus, but how could I have had that and not passed it to Amy, or to Nick?"

"I'm not sure. But the results are absolute. It was definitely Norovirus. Right. I'm going to take down that IV line and then you're free to go, okay?" She says, smiling. Zoe just nods.


End file.
